The granddaughter of an early polar explorer has attended a ceremony to mark the launch of the first Antarctic coin. The coin has been created by the Pobjoy Mint in Kingswood, Surrey, to commemorate the centenary of the Granting of Letters Patent in 1908 when the UK first claimed the British Antarctic Territory.
Posted 05/03/2008 10:19 am
quote:
It is the first ever legal tender commemorative coin issued by the British Antarctic Territory, making it the world's first Antarctic coin.
Quite correct; I never really noticed that before. None of the other claimants to Antarctica have issued coins for their territories, though several (such as New Zealand's Ross Dependency and the Australian Antarctic Territory) have issued postage stamps for years.
Chile and Argentina, of course, consider their Antarctic claims to be integral parts of their respective countries, rather than separate "colonies".
The issuing of coinage is an ancient means of expressing sovereignty. I wonder what the other signatories to the Antarctic Treaty think of this.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
