Five hundred collector coins from the Royal Australian Mint will have the trip of a lifetime in a commemorative flight over the Antarctic to mark the centenary of the attainment of the South Magnetic Pole. At their recent 2009 product launch, the Royal Australian Mint released its third coin in their Polar Series – Antarctic Explorers. Today [17 Jan.] this coin is fittingly onboard the South Magnetic Pole Centenary Flyover, organised by the Royal Society of Victoria.

In recognition of the centenary, the Antarctic Explorers coin features members of the 1907-09 Earnest Shackleton Expedition: Sir Douglas Mawson accompanied by Tannat Edgeworth Casey and Forbes Mckay, who were the first group to reach the South Magnetic Pole.

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Silver and gold coins were issued Wednesday by Ireland’s Central Bank to commemorate the adventurous feats by Antarctic explorers Earnest Shackleton and Tom Crean, and celebrate the International Polar Year.

The proof collector €5 and €100 coins feature the two historic Irish explorers with their ship ‘The Endurance’ backdropped within the steel grips of Antarctic ice.

Shackleton and Crean ‘The Endurance’ Expedition Background

In a remarkable story, in 1915 the pair set off to cross the Antarctica via the South Pole on an expedition that soon became a near hopeless battle for survival.

During the journey, The Endurance became wedged. The vessel could not shake the clutches of the South Pole ice, and eventually sank 10 months later.

Shackleton, Crean and crew were forced onto floating ice Read the rest of this entry »