| Coin | Silver Ounce 2014 Moldavite Impact |
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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 bullion sizes, including one ounce of silver - such as this coin.
This coin featuring the Moldavite Impact is part of the Meteorite Impacts collection which is issued in a number of different countries; all coins in it have an embedded original piece of the specific meteorite.
Moldavite is a forest green, olive green or blue greenish vitreous silica projectile glass formed by a meteorite impact in southern Germany (Nördlinger Ries Crater) that occurred about 15 million years ago.
Moldavite was introduced to the scientific public for the first time in 1786 as "chrysolites" from Týn nad Vltavou in a lecture by Josef Mayer of Prague University, read at a meeting of the Bohemian Scientific Society (Mayer 1788). Zippe (1836) first used the term "moldavite", derived from the Moldau (Vltava) river in Bohemia (the Czech Republic), from where the first described pieces came. |
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| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin shows the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait"). The Queen wears the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" diamond tiara, a wedding gift from Queen Mary (Her Majesty's grandmother) in 1947 - which she also has on the Machin and the Gottwald portraits.
In small letters below the head, the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley).
Around the effigy is the monarch's legend and the face value: ELIZABETH II COOK ISLANDS 5 DOLLARS.
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| Reverse | |
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The reverse represents, in high relief, a meteorite impact crater. A piece of the actual meteorite has been embedded at the centre of its surface.
Around above, the inscription MOLDAVITE IMPACT. Around below, the date of issue 2014. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
MOLDAVITE IMPACT 2014 |
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| Edge | Milled | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | Finish: proof, coloured, meteorite insert.
CIT Item ID: 27037. |
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| See also |
Coins in the Meteorite Impacts collection include:
- 2 oz Silver, Meteorite NWA 267, Liberia 2004
- 25 g Silver, Nantan Meteorite, Palau 2006
- 25 g Silver, Brenham Pallasite Meteorite, Cook Islands 2007
- 1/4 oz Gold, Pultusk Meteorite, Cook Islands 2008
- 25 g Silver, Pultusk Meteorite, Cook Islands 2008
- 25 g Silver, Observation of Mars, Cook Islands 2009
- 25 g Silver, Meteorite HAH 280, Cook Islands 2010
- 20 g Silver, Muonionalusta Meteorite, Cook Islands 2011
- 20 g Silver, Seymchan Meteorite, Cook Islands 2012
- 20 g Silver, Chelyabinsk Meteorite, Cook Islands 2013
- 1 oz Silver, Moldavite Impact, Cook Islands 2014
- 1 oz Silver, Chondrite Impact - Meteorite NWA 4037, Cook Islands 2015
- 1/2 oz Silver, Tamdakht Meteorite, Cook Islands 2016
- 1/2 oz Silver, Chergach Meteorite, Cook Islands 2017
- 1/2 oz Silver, Erfoud Meteorite NWA 6827, Cook Islands 2018
- 1/2 oz Silver, Estacado Meteorite, Cook Islands 2019
- 1 oz Silver, Viñales Meteorite, Cook Islands 2020
- 1 oz Silver, La Ciénega Meteorite, Cook Islands 2021
- 1 oz Silver, Aba Panu Meteorite, Cook Islands 2022
- 1 oz Silver, Tenham Meteorite, Cook Islands 2023
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