The British Antarctic Territory and Pobjoy Mint are delighted to announce the release of a second £2 coin in a series of five coins to commemorate 200 years since the death of British Astronomer Sir William Herschel. Each coin shows a constellation from the “Bayer Family”. This family of constellations are circumpolar which means that they are always fully visible from the British Antarctic Territory.
The design on the second coin features the Grus Constellation which is represented by a Crane, the image of which is depicted on the design. The constellation itself is shown beneath the bird and a compass as it would read in Antarctica.
Grus constellation lies in the southern sky and its name means “the crane” in Latin. Grus contains three stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 and one star located within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of Earth. Grus was one of the 12 constellations created by Dutch explorers in the late 16th century. In Greek Mythology the Grus was considered a sacred bird to the god Hermes.
You can order this coin now from Pobjoy Mint.