The First Russian Antarctic Expedition

Obverse

the two-headed eagle (designed by I.Bilibin), the letters under it indicate the metal sign, the fineness, the mint trademark and the fine metal content. The inscriptions along the rim: at the top — "3 РУБЛЯ 1994 г." (3 RUBLES 1994), at the bottom — "БАНК РОССИИ" (BANK OF RUSSIA).

Reverse

the sloop "Vostok", in the background to the left - the sloop "Mirny", to the right - an Antarctic sea chart, the inscriptions along the rim: at the top — "ПЕРВАЯ РУССКАЯ АНТАРКТИЧЕСКАЯ ЭКСПЕДИЦИЯ 1819-1821" (THE FIRST RUSSIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 1819-1821), at the bottom - "МАРШРУТ ЭКСПЕДИЦИИ" (THE ROUTE OF THE EXPEDITION).

Authors

The artist: A.V. Baklanov.
The sculptor: L.S. Kamshilov.
Leningrad Mint (ЛМД).
The edge: 300 corrugations.

The Antarctic - a vast continent with an area of 13,975,000 square kilometres. The mainland and several islands in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were discovered in January 1820 by the Russian expedition of 1819-1921 on board of the naval sailing sloops "Mirny" (built in 1818, displacement: 530 tons) and "Vostok" (built in 1818, displacement: 900 tons). The first Russian Antarctic expedition was led by the captain of the "Mirny", Admiral Faddei Bellingshausen (1778-1852), a Russian navigator who participated in the first Russian voyage around the world in 1803-1806. The commander of the "Vostok" was Admiral Mikhail Lazarev (1788-1851), a Russian naval commander and navigator who participated in three voyages around the globe.