MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Coin recalls the centenary of the legendary “race to the South Pole”

Ponting’s photos testimony of the Scott expedition and particularly the “ice grotto” that impressed King George V

The centenary of the legendary ‘Race to the South Pole’ between Britain’s Robert Falcon Scott and Norway’s Ronald Amundsen is marked by a new SGSSI coin just released by Pobjoy Mint, announced the June edition of the South Georgia Newsletter.

The British “Terra Nova” Expedition was led by Scott with the objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. However when he arrived it was only to discover that the Norwegian team led by Amundsen had arrived there 33 days earlier.

Amongst the members of Scott's team who set out in 1910 was successful travel photographer Herbert Ponting, the first official photographer to participate in a polar expedition. Ponting photographed as much as possible during his time on the expedition, recording the first icebergs they encountered, scenes from on board the ship featuring many of the crew, pictures of the landscape and of the wildlife which included seals, gulls and penguins.

As the expedition was not eligible for total government funding, they relied on commercial sponsors to equip them with supplies, so Ponting also took pictures of members of the crew eating food such as Heinz Baked Beans to be sent back to the sponsors. When Ponting presented expedition photographs to King George V, he was particularly impressed by the image of the ‘ice grotto’ which is now one of Ponting’s most iconic images. The design on the new coin is an interpretation of this scene, shown as if looking out from an Antarctic ice grotto, with two explorers on the ice outside and the ship “Terra Nova” in the background.

The new coin, dated 2010, is available in Cupro Nickel and Proof Sterling Silver. The obverse of the coin carries an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS.

The Race to the Pole coin can be bought direct from Pobjoy Mint.