Gold Half Gram 2022 Ancient Greece - Dolphins and Tuna, 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.

This coin is part of the Ancient Greece series and features Dolphins and Tuna, as they appeared on the coinage of Cyzicus.

Ancient cities chose symbols for their coinage that represented the founding mythology, a pun on the city’s name, a characteristic feature of the economy or the city’s devotion to a particular deity.

Cyzicus was one of the great trade cities of the ancient world. It was located on the Sea of Marmara and ruled by the Persian Empire until its capture by Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Tuna fishing was a cornerstone of the economy of Cyzicus, so much so that the animal became the defining feature of the coinage from the city. The two dolphins encircling Cyzicus’ tuna symbolise Poseidon, the god of the sea.