Pobjoy Mint has issued a new 50p collector coin featuring a tall ship. The coin is minted on behalf of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Government and features the HMS Resolution in honour of the 250th Anniversary of the Ship’s Launch.
In 1775, Captain Cook made the first landing, surveying and mapping of South Georgia in the HMS Resolution. As instructed by the admiralty, on 17th January 1776, he took possession of the Island for Britain and renamed the land “Isle of Georgia” for King George III. This year is the 250th Anniversary of this day which is celebrated as possession day, a public holiday in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The design of our stunning new 50p coin features Cook’s ship, the HMS Resolution, which was a sloop of the Royal Navy that called it “the Ship of my Choice and the fittest for service of any I have seen”. The obverse of the coin features the exclusive Pobjoy Mint effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
For more information on the coin go to the Pobjoy website.
The HMS Resolution was James Cook’s ship on his second and third voyage, when he died in the South Sea. Read more about Cook’s gruesome end in this article.
