The Great Tea Race

Smartminting© allows unprecedented dimensions of high reliefs. This new technology has been impressively used to create the coin editions dedicated to the 150th anniversary of «The Great Tea Race». In 1866, some of the fastest clippers carrying cargo competed in a legendary sailing race. The aim was to transport the eagerly awaited tea crops from China to Great Britain in the shortest possible time. After 99 days on their home-bound journey, the two fastest ships – the «Taeping» and the «Ariel» – arrived with a mere time difference of 25 minutes. The design of these coin issues is based on the oil painting by famous British maritime artist Jack Spurling. It shows the close finish between the two ships in the English Channel after a three-month head-tohead race, depicting their full sails with an astonishing high relief.