Once a week or so I go online just to look for any new interesting gold or silver products that have become available. This past week I haven't spent much time online being down with COVID, but did last Saturday. As a coin collector I've always liked coins with ships on them, like many others in the silver gold stacker community. That's why this one in particular caught my eye.
It's a gold coin commemorating the 250th anniversary of the second Captain Cook expedition featuring the ship HMS Resolution. It caught my eye immediately, and although it's a colorized coin which I usually don't like, here it works nicely. Have a look at this really nice coin from the island nation of Niue.
Images from APMEX.com
From numista.com
This coin is very cool, I just wish they didn't have King Charles on the obverse (front) of the coin. The Niue coat of arms is a much nicer design. It has a mintage of only 50 coins, but they come expensive at $5,195. Much more than I have to pay at the moment as nice as it is. I'm sure it will sell out rather quickly and in a few years may be really expensive!
There is also a silver variety that I dislike due to the coloring. They should have left it just plain silver.
aussiecoinsandnotes.com
The price on this one is $164.99, way too much in my opinion. Especially since I'm not a huge fan of the coloring although I have to admit they did a good job.
public domain, Cook circa 1775
Born in Yorkshire, England in 1728, Cook was destined to become one of the most famous maritime explorers in world history. As a teenager he joined the British merchant navy where he was quickly advancing up the ranks. However, he realized his career would advance faster in the Royal Navy when the Seven Year War broke out with France.
He served his time during the war in the Americas where his skills in cartography (map making) flourished. His detailed mapping of the mouth of the St. Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec made it possible for the British to sail the shallows at night. His detailed mapping on Newfoundland caught the eye of his superiors. At the time England wanted to explore the Pacific and his skills led him to his first command and expedition.
Given command of the HMS Endeavour he was to search for a hypothetical southern land (Terra Australis) to claim for England. During this first expedition lasting from 1768 unit 1771 he claimed New Zealand and Australia for Britain and created detailed maps. He subsequently returned to England.
His second expedition (launched 1772) he would command two vessels, the HMS Resolution and HSM Adventure. He was to explore far south in the Pacific in summer then retreat north in winter to explore the more northern areas. His exploration took him in the the Antarctic Circle on to find his journey halted by icepacks on the ocean. He came within 75 miles (121 km) of Antarctica but never never saw it. One notable landfall he made was the Cook Islands in 1773. He also made landfall on Easter Island and Tonga during the voyage before returning to England in 1775.
His third and final voyage was to find a route from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Atlantic Ocean and launched in 1776. He once again visited the Cook Islands in 1777. During this voyage he discovered Hawaii but the native population weren't particularly friendly. There were tensions throughout their stay before moving north to map the coast of western North America. Failing to find a way to the Atlantic due to ice packs, they returned down to Hawaii for supplies and make repairs. Again tensions with the locals was a problem that led to a confrontation where Cook (age 50) and three of his men were killed as well as thirty Hawaiians on Feb. 14, 1779.
His crew managed to negotiate the return of some of the remains, but the bodies had been burned. The few bones and skull of Cook were buried at sea by his crew. The crew carried on trying to find the northwest passage only to be blocked by ice. They then turned around and returned to England.
Cook is credited for preventing scurvy by frequently restocking fresh foods. During his second voyage 20 men fell ill with the disease giving him the idea to prevent it. He also forbade his men with STD's from having sexual relations with local women fearing it would spread to the native populations. However, apparently not many listened as STD's were spread. He also showed the natives great respect and felt horrible that they may have introduced new diseases to the populations.
At some point the Cook Islands were named to honor him, the first mention of them being called the Cook Islands was on a Russian map from 1820.
I've included the Wikipedia link in my references if you want a better detailed story. He was a brave and interesting man who loved adventure.
That will do it for my post of the day. I really wish I could afford this coin in gold. Not in my budget sadly, and I just don't like the silver one much. Thanks for taking the time to visit and please feel free to leave any questions or comments below. As always thank you so much for all of your support and have great week everyone!
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia468764.html
https://www.aussiecoinsandnotes.com/2025-1-captain-cook-the-search-for-terra-australis
https://www.apmex.com/product/316160/2025-niue-1-oz-gold-captain-cook-the-search-for-terra-australis
Disclaimer
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