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Thursday, 29th May 2008 (1118 views)

The late New Zealand mountaineer and explorer Sir Edmund Hillary has been featured on special edition gold coins released by the New Zealand Post.

The 20.6mm diameter coins, which have a legal tender denomination of $10, depict an image of Sir Edmund, one of the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest, against a backdrop of the world's highest peak.

They have been released to coincide with the 55th anniversary of the day the climber ended his epic journey and 1953 will be made, reflecting the year in which the adventure took place.

Steve Eccles, Downtown Coin Centre internet sales manager, told the New Zealand Herald that because the coins feature Sir Edmund he expects them to be extremely popular.

A proportion of the proceeds from the sale of the coins will go to the Himalayan Trust, a charity founded by the late explorer to help the people of Nepal. They are expected to sell for more than $500 each.

Sir Edmund Hillary died in January this year. Prior to his Everest expedition he served in the RNZAF as a navigator during World War II and in the years following he successfully journeyed to both the South and North poles.

 

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