1 Pound - Elizabeth II Deception Island

Deception Island is a collapsed volcanic caldera in the South Shetland Islands whose natural harbour, Port Foster, is entered through a narrow breach called Neptune's Bellows. Whalers exploited it from the early 19th century; the Hektor Whaling Station operated there until a 1931 eruption forced abandonment. Britain established its sovereignty claim through continuous scientific presence rather than settlement, and the British Antarctic Territory — created by Order in Council in 1962 — issues coinage partly as an instrument of that claim.

A 1969 eruption destroyed the British base at the island, ending permanent occupation.