Gold Half Gram 2022 Numismatic Icons - Athena’s Owl, Coin from Cook Islands - detailed information

The Cook Islands, a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, uses two official legal tender currencies. The New Zealand Dollar circulates in parallel with the local Cook Islands Dollar; at the same time, the government also authorises many legal tender coins in the Cook Islands Dollar currency for collector's purposes. Many of them are in standard sizes, including the half gram (0.5 g) of gold mini-coin format - such as this coin.

The Mint says about this coin:
Following the successful launch of the silver editions in 2020/21 now we release the complementary gold versions of the Athenian Owl and the Tortoise. The Athenian Owl tetradrachm, renamed after the Greek goddess of wisdom, is arguably the most popular and recognised ancient coin. The owl was associated with Athena very early on in archaic artworks and often depicted perching on her hand. Because of its strong connection with the goddess, the owl evolved into the Athenians’ own icon and graced a large variety of coins such as the tetradrachm from as early as the 5th century BC. The turtle was used during ancient Greek times as a monetary symbol and was struck on coins that were first made on the island of Aegina in the south of Greece.

Today, the original ancient turtle coins are highly prized and extremely valuable. Both half gram coins are struck in silk finish with incredible details and pay tribute to the ancient coins of the past.