British Antarctic Territory 50p: 2020 HMS Erebus / 2021 HMS Terror & Scotia

[Figleaf]

Most excellent background and the research, Deeman. We are currently flooded with commemoratives from a growing number of issuers, many hardly more than cutie-pie pictures in metal, some blatant attempts to squeeze money out of the get-rich-quickly crowd, some political statements forgotten within weeks after issue and a few commemorating something worthwhile, like a polar expedition that established a weather observation station in snow and ice. Would we have been as aware of the the danger of climate change today without the hard weather data coming from the poles? I doubt it.

It takes perseverance and determination to cut through the thicket of nonsense issues and find those few that remember the worthwhile. You did that with this issue. Thank you.

Peter

[Deeman]

Trivia associated with the Scotia expedition:

Gilbert Kerr was the official piper of the Scotia Expedition, and, in this capacity, was photographed performing in full Highland dress even in the harsh Antarctic environment. The Emperor penguin accompanying him in this photograph was tethered to a large cooking-pot packed full of snow. This shot was made into a postcard, and thus became one of the first items ever to be posted from Antarctica. The bagpipes were given to the 1st Edinburgh Battalion of the Royal Scots in 1914. They were played by Piper Anderson in the Battle of the Somme and were subsequently lost during that action.