4775) "Endurance" - The Second Coin in the Coin Series titled "Legends of thr Seas", Cook Islands: This $5 (Five Dollars) 1.00 oz Coin in the Series is dedicated to one of the most famous ships in polar exploration history: Coin minted by B.H.Mayer's Kunstprageanstalt GmbH at their facilities in Munich: Coin coordinated by Coin Invest Trust (CIT): Date/Year of Coin issue: 2026:
Links to posts on the "Endurance" Expedition on this Blog:
About Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922):
Ernest Henry Shackleton (15
February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led
three British expeditions to the Antarctic.
He was one of the principal
figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Born in Kilkea, County
Kildare, Ireland, Shackleton and his Anglo-Irish family moved to Sydenham in
suburban south London when he was ten.
Shackleton's first
experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert
Falcon Scott's Discovery expedition of 1901–1904,
from which he was sent home early on health grounds, after he and his
companions Scott and Edward Adrian Wilson set a new southern record by marching
to latitude 82° S.
During the Nimrod
Expedition of 1907–1909, he
and three companions established a new record Farthest South latitude of
88°23′ S, only 97 geographical miles (112 statute miles or 180 kilometres) from
the South Pole, the largest advance to the pole in exploration history.
Also, members of his team climbed
Mount Erebus, the most active Antarctic volcano.
On returning home, Shackleton
was knighted for his achievements by King Edward VII.
After the race to the South
Pole ended in December 1911, with Roald Amundsen's conquest, Shackleton
turned his attention to the crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea, via the
pole.
To this end, he made preparations
for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917.
The expedition was
struck by disaster when its ship, "Endurance", became trapped in pack ice and
finally sank in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica on 21 November 1915.
The crew escaped by
camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats
to reach Elephant Island and ultimately the South Atlantic island of South
Georgia, enduring a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles (1,330
km; 830 mi) in Shackleton's most famous exploit.
He returned to the Antarctic with the
Shackleton–Rowett Expedition in 1921 but passed away of a heart attack while
his ship was moored in South Georgia.
Shackelton’s final expedition originally intended to go to the Arctic to explore the Beaufort Sea, but this plan was abandoned and the target changed to a circum-navigation of the Antarctic which would include exploration of the little known and sub-Antarctic islands.
Sailing from London for the Southern Ocean on 17.09.1921, the crew included eight of Shackleton's shipmates from the famous Endurance Expedition. Quest reached South Georgia on 04.01.1922.
The following night, before the expedition’s work could properly begin, Shackleton unexpectedly passed away aboard the vessel while she was at anchor in Grytviken.
At his wife's request, he remained on the island and was buried in the cemetery at Grytviken whaling station on 5th March and the ceremony was attended by hundreds of whalers and seamen.
Today, visitors still flock to the site to pay their final respects to 'The Boss'.
The wreck of Endurance was discovered just over a century after Shackleton's death.
The major part of the subsequent attenuated expedition was a three-month cruise to the Eastern Antarctic, under the leadership of the party's second-in-command, Frank Wild.
Quest carried out a desultory survey of the Weddell Sea area before returning to the South Atlantic.
Away from his
expeditions, Shackleton's life was generally restless and unfulfilled.
In his search for rapid
pathways to wealth and security, he launched business ventures that
failed to prosper, and when he passed away, he was heavily in
debt.
He was lauded in the press
upon his death but was thereafter largely forgotten, while the heroic
reputation of his rival Scott was sustained for many decades.
Later in the 20th
century, Shackleton was "rediscovered", and he became a role model
for leadership in extreme circumstances.
In his 1956 address to
the British Science Association, one of Shackleton's contemporaries, Sir
Raymond Priestley, said: "Scott for scientific method, Amundsen
for speed and efficiency, but, when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get
down on your knees and pray for Shackleton", paraphrasing what Apsley
Cherry-Garrard had written in a preface to his 1922 memoir The Worst Journey in
the World.
In 2002, Shackleton was voted eleventh in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
The Commemorative Coin issued by Coin Invest Trust (CIT):
The second issue in the “Legends of the Seas” series is dedicated to one of the most famous ships in polar exploration history: Ernest Shackleton’s "Endurance".
- In 1915, the Endurance became trapped in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea during her voyage to Antarctica, and after months battling the forces of nature, was ultimately crushed.
- What followed was one of the most extraordinary survival stories in maritime history – Shackleton and his crew fought their way back to civilisation across ice and open ocean, without losing a single man.
Thanks to smartminting® technology, the ship is brought back to life in her final hour: the sailing vessel, trapped in the ice, with every detail of her rigging and hull modeled in striking relief straight out of the coin.
On the Reverse of the $5 colourised Silver Proof Coin, Shackleton himself looks back at us, determined and watchful, just as he was on his legendary expedition.
This colorised 1-ounce coin with ultra-high relief is limited in mintage to only 999 pieces and tells one of the most gripping stories of courage and survival at sea.
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The Obverse of the Coin shows a left facing effigy of Charles III positioned within a Ship's wheel/helm. The peripheral inscriptions read - "5 DOLLARS. CHARLES III. COOK ISLANDS".
The specifications of this Coin are:
Country: Cook Islands
Coin Quality: Proof
Face Value: 5 Dollars
Weight: 1.00 oz
Size: 38.61 mm
Year 2027
Material Silver
Fineness 0.9999
Mintage 999
Shape: Round
Feature: Coloured
The "Seven Deadly Sins Coin Series":
Other links to some interesting posts on Coins brought out by Coin Invest Trust on behalf of other countries including the Australian Continent:
Links to posts on "Camouflage of Nature Coin Series" on this Blog:
Links to other posts on Metropolis Tiffany Art Coin Series:
Tiffany Art Portals Coin Series:
Links:
Links to other Coins in the Cyborg Revolution Coin Series" issued in this Series:
Most Haunted Places Coin Series:
(Contd)
Links to other posts on Metropolis Tiffany Art Coin Series:
The 7-Summits Silver Coin Series:
