August 1912 was marked by an event which was eagerly anticipated, became the subject of much controversy, and made a great contribution into the history of the Russian North exploration. After a farewell prayer, schooner Saint Phocas carrying the expedition led by Saint Petersburg Admiralty Senior Lieutenant Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov departed from the port of Arkhangelsk. The destination of the voyage, which lasted for two years and ended tragically for its leader, was the North Pole.

Cook’ and Peary’s statements, the wish to outpace Amundsen by all means, the ambition of a loyal subject to make the Emperor happy by discovering new lands for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanovs – all these considerations lay at the heart of Sedov’s main motives. That is, in fact, the expedition goals were rather political and sportive than scientific. At the beginning of March 1912, Sedov sent an application concerning the mission financing to the Main Hydrographic Department. It was considered and declined by a special commission, as Georgy Sedov’s plan appeared absolutely fantastic to it. However, Sedov did not give in – it was decided to form the expedition at the expense of private funds.

With the active support of Mikhail Alexeyevich Souvorin, the son of famous book publisher Alexei Souvorin, a Russian writer and journalist and co-owner of the Novoye Vremya (New Time) newspaper, collection of voluntary donations was organized, at the expense of which it was planned to equip the expedition. The campaign met a broad public response.

Several publications in the Novoye Vremya gave rise to a lot of criticism of the future expedition, which was declared completely senseless. But beside those critics, there was another type of people who silently produced bank notes to make their contribution into exploration of the Russian North. The latter even included Russian Emperor Nikolas II who donated 10 000 rubles from his own funds – a huge amount of money constituting one fifth of the required sum. In total, Sedov managed to collect more than 40 000 rubles.

Donators were presented with tokens bearing an image of a skier, a dog, and a flying flag in the middle of a polar landscape, and an inscription saying that the token is granted to the donator supporting Senior Lieutenant Sedov’s expedition to the North Pole. The inscription was written in accordance with the grammar typical for the early 20th century.

Tokens were made from dark bronze and worn on a white-blue-red-ribbon – colors of the Russian flag. Three badges were made from gold – they were presented to Fridtjof Nansen, Commodore Belavenets, and Mikhail Souvorin who granted credit for the expedition in the amount of 20 000 rubles. Among merchants, the token was especially popular – people wore it proudly, wishing to demonstrate publicly their generosity, patriotism, and loyalty to the Emperor.