Silver Ounce 2020 HMS Bounty, 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 or for investment. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes, including one ounce of silver - such as this coin.

This coin is part of a large range of bullion coins and bars featuring HMS Bounty.

HMS Bounty, also known as His Majesty's Armed Vessel (HMAV) Bounty, is one of the most well-known sailing vessels in human history, and for all the wrong reasons. Originally built as a private merchant vessel, it was sold to the Royal Navy near the end of the War of American Independence and made just one voyage as part of the Royal Navy.

Before it was known as the HMS Bounty, the ship was built in 1784 in Hull, Yorkshire, England, at the Blaydes shipyard. The small merchant vessel was commissioned as the Bethia and operated for three years as a private vessel. In May 1787, the ship was sold to the Royal Navy and recommissioned as the HMS Bounty. The ship would go on to make just one infamous voyage in its history. The HMS Bounty was placed under the command of William Bligh upon its commission into the Royal Navy in 1787 and sent to the South Pacific on a botanical mission. The aim of this mission was to acquire breadfruit plants to transport to the British West Indies. It met an infamous end in the course of this expedition as a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian succeeded in taking control of the ship. The HMS Bounty met its doom elsewhere, but during its voyage passed through the Cook Islands.

The descendants of the mutineers and their Tahitian captives now live on Pitcairn Island.