RSA (Post-1994): Centenary of the Journeys of Discovery to the South Pole |
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| Form: | Circular, Made of three concentric pieces: Silver-Gold-Silver | ||||||||
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| By: | L Guerra (Artist) / VL Chipa (Obv) / MD Mothobela (Rev) / South African Mint | ||||||||
| Date: | 2012 | ||||||||
| Ref: |
Laidlaw: 1309; |
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| Variations: |
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| Edge: |
Upright reeded. Thin 1.8 mm |
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| Obverse: |
Stylized border of snow and ice. Amundsen's ship, Fram, under sail in Ross Sea, right. Above left, Head of Amundsen on glacier. Across above: "Amundsen / 14 December 1911 / Scott / 17 January 1912". On the right map showing the routes taken by Amundsen and Scott. Legend below: "Discovery of the South Pole - 100 Year Anniversary". Outer ring marked upper left: "Ag 925". Middle ring marked upper right: "1/4 oz Au 999.9". |
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| Reverse: |
Stylized border of snow and ice. Map of Antarctica showing lines of longitude converging at the South Pole. The arctic circles is shown in a dashed line around. Various 'lands' and geographical features are named. Above across: "SANAE (South African National Antarctic Expedition) / (SOUTH AFRICA)". |
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| Notes: |
This medal comes in a set from the South African Mint together with two silver commemorative coins: a South African 2 Rand dated 2012 and a Belgian 10 Euro dated 2011. The set is housed in a grey leather folder embossed with embellishments and designs taken from this medal. In addition there is a descriptive folder and a CD/DVD video disk. The certificate is printed on the folder and states a maximum mintage of the 2 rand coin of 1,000. These sets are special in that the 2 Rand coin is stamped with the: “90°S” privy mark. It is believed that only 218 coin were so stamped. The South African team lugged these coins together with two hand presses to the South Pole and stamped the coins at the exact spot. The video is a record of their journey and shows the coins being stamped. The medal was struck on a pre-prepared thin planchet comprising a central circular silver piece surrounded by an inner ring of gold and an outer sing of silver. The pressure of the strike has caused the soft pure gold part to bleed into the silver parts and consequently there is no sharp delineation of the separate parts. Roald Amundsen (1872 -1928) was a Norwegian explorer of the polar regions. He led the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911, At the same time the British explorer, Robert Scott (1868 - 1912), was attempting to be the first to reach the South Pole. He failed to do so, arriving five weeks too late, and tragically he and his team died on the return journey To commemorate the centenary of these two journeys of discovery, a charity race over 704 Km was organised between a number of competing countries. Norway came first taking 15 days, followed by Wales in 22 days. South Africa came 3rd having assisted an injured member of the English team. |
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