The geographical poles were the last places untouched by human feet at the beginning of the 20th century, and their humiliation became an obsession for many explorers and adventurers. The story of the conquest of the North Pole is commemorated by the first silver coin of the Czech Mint from a miniseries called Polar explorers.

First of all, there was more interest among the polar explorers in reaching the North Pole, which was closer to Europeans and Americans and not as cold as the South. On the other hand, this target was not on solid ground, but in the middle of the frozen Arctic Ocean. The local glacier is in constant motion even with the evidence of the conquest of the pole in the form of a raised flag. It is no wonder that there are disputes over who stood on the North Pole as first. The claims of the American polar explorers Frederick Cook from 1908 and Robert Peary from 1909 turned out to be false. Even the American pilot Richard Byrd, who was to fly over the North Pole by plane in 1926, did not tell the truth. The crew of the Norge airship became the first expedition that demonstrably reached the North Pole On May 12, 1926. One of its members was the expert Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen, who conquered the South Pole in 1911, believing that the North Pole had long been conquered… Another miracle of technology that reached the North Pole was the American nuclear submarine Nautilus in 1958, sailing under a glacier. Members of the American expedition of Ralph Plaisted, who used snowmobiles instead of draft dogs, became the first people to demonstrably reached the North Pole by land on April 19, 1968. The ways to achieve the dream goal were not exhausted even then, and the Soviet icebreaker Arctic made its way to the North Pole through solid ice in 1977.

hese conquerors - from the walking polar explorer, the airship to the atomic icebreaker - are commemorated by the reverse side of the coin, which was processed by the medal maker Luboš Charvát. The rich relief also includes an Arctic glacier and a polar bear. The composition of the reverse side is completed by a directional rose and the inscription DOBÝVÁNÍ SEVERNÍHO PÓLU (THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTH POLE). The obverse side bears the steering wheel as a symbol of voyages of discovery. Since the coins of the Czech Mint are licensed by the island of Niue, their obverse sides bear the name and portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal value of 2 DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2021.

The special packaging in which the coin is stored, includes a spectacular brochure full of period photographs and interesting facts about the conquerors of the North Pole.