Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration: Scotia - 2022 Bi-Metal £2 Coin - BAT

Pobjoy Mint is delighted to announce the release of the second coin in the new £2 coin series celebrating 100 years since the end of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE), 1902–1904, was led by William Speirs Bruce, a natural scientist and former medical student, aboard the Scotia.  The expedition completed a full programme of exploration and scientific work and its achievements included the establishment of a manned meteorological station, the first in Antarctica. When the Scotia reached its most southerly point on 9th March 1904, the ship was held fast in pack ice for four days and it was during this period of activity that bagpiper Gilbert Kerr was photographed serenading a penguin.

The design features the ship Scotia in the background and in the foreground is a bagpiper serenading a King Penguin. Issued on behalf of the British Antarctic Territory the coin has been produced in Bi-metal and Proof Fine Silver with Goldclad®. The obverse of the coin features an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II produced exclusively by Pobjoy Mint.