MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ coins to celebrate Darwin’s 200 birth anniversary

The Falkland Islands government is celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Charles Darwin with the issue of special coins from the Pobjoy mint.

The design on the reverse of the coin is a classic portrait of Darwin with his name clearly written above his image and the obverse of the coin bears a fine effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS FSNAD.

They are available in Proof Fine 999.9 Gold (5.000 limit issue); Proof Sterling Silver (10.000 limit issue) and Un-circulated Cupro Nickel with unlimited issue.

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in February 1809, He had initially planned to study medicine at Edinburgh University but later switched to studying Divinity at Cambridge.

Best known for his theory on evolution, Charles Darwin was fundamental in discovering how all species of life developed from a central ancestor, changing the way we think about how we came to be as humans. He was a naturalist who searched the globe for new species of flora and fauna and he worked on his theory for 20 years, publishing the famous, ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’.

His breakthrough came when he visited the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America. Darwin noticed that each island had its own form of Finch which were closely related but different to each other. His theory was that humans were simply another form of mammal developed over thousands of years, possibly from Apes.

At a time when most Europeans believed the world had been created in seven days by God, as described in the bible, his ideas were initially perceived as controversial. However, Darwin’s ideas now form the foundation of modern biology.

In 1831, Charles Darwin joined a five-year scientific expedition on HMS Beagle, he visited the Falkland Islands in 1833-1834 and the settlement Darwin is named in his honour. Charles Darwin died in 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The Pobjoy family has been associated with fine metalwork since the Middle Ages. The Company was recently granted permission to use the family Coat of Arms in which the Medieval Popinjay is the central motif.

Over the past three centuries, the Company has been involved in many diverse fields, but they have always been involved in metal, both base and precious.

For the past 100 years the Company has been deeply involved in the development and manufacture of coins, medals and tokens.