In August 1768, under the command of then-Lieutenant James Cook, HMS Endeavour and her crew set sail for Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus - before opening sealed orders for a secret assignment.

Captain James Cook's pioneering journeys across the Pacific in the eighteenth century changed the course of science. They also provided us with a superb visual record of this period of exploration.

The new coin features the HMS Resolution, the ship that was captained by James Cook. The year 2020 marks the bicentenary of the reign of George III, Britain’s longest-reigning king. During his ...