Captain Cook 2019 UK £2 Gold Proof Coin

With repairs made and provisions restocked, Captain Cook’s voyage of discovery continued. The HM Bark Endeavour sailed from Rio De Janeiro around Cape Horn and into the Pacific, bound for Tahiti. Here Cook was tasked with observing the Transit of Venus, a rare astronomical phenomenon that scientists hoped would help them calculate the size of the Solar System. Having established an observatory for this purpose and charted the island, finally, it was time to open the sealed orders he had been carrying since departure. A more secretive mission emerged and the search for the fabled southern continent was about to begin.

As we continue our exciting series celebrating the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s first great voyage, The Royal Mint is delighted to release the second of three coins. Struck in 22 carat gold and finished to finest Proof standard, artist Gary Breeze commemorates Captain Cook’s time at Tahiti in 1769, with a design featuring the mast of the HM Bark Endeavour below a celestial image of the Transit of Venus. A fitting tribute to a man who has come to personify the great age of exploration.