| Coin | Silver Ounce 2023 Tenham Meteorite |
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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 Tenham Meteorite 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.
The Mint says about it:
In 1879, a celestial spectacle unfolded in the vast wilderness of Australia near Tenham Station, in western Queensland. Bright meteors streaked across the sky, their fiery trails carving a path from west to east, before shattering into countless extra-terrestrial fragments on the ground. In the aftermath, the precious stones were found scattered over a vast area.
The 19th issue of the "Meteorite Impacts" series takes a hypothetical comic-book-style look at how present-day society would be likely to respond to such an event. |
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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, the date of issue and the value: ELIZABETH II 5 DOLLARS COOK ISLANDS 2023.
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| Reverse | |
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The reverse design is coloured and depicts, in several sections, a city skyline, a meteorite falling from the sky (with a piece of the actual meteorite embedded in the coin), and comic book-style depictions of a news anchor reading news, and people running in a street with the word BOOM superimposed.
Below the words BREAKING NEWS in the depiction of the news anchor, the inscription ACT ++ METEORITE IMPACT ++. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
ACT ++ METEORITE IMPACT ++ |
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| Edge | Milled | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | Finish: proof, coloured, meteorite insert.
CIT Item ID: 30388.
The coin displays the effigy and legend of Queen Elizabeth II, even though it is dated during the reign of King Charles III. |
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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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