Silver Three Ounces 2020 Dendera Zodiac Egypt, 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.

Collector coins are dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to the country itself. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes, including the large three ounces of silver format - such as this coin.

The Mint says about it:
The Dendera Zodiac Egypt coin is the fourth issue in the Archaeology and Symbolism series. The impossible has been made possible using the enhanced smartminting technology and brings the sculptured Dendera zodiac to life. The coin has an antique or silk finish and is struck on a 3 oz pure .999 silver huge 65 mm blank in the highest quality.

The Dendera Zodiac is a widely known Egyptian bas-relief which was added to the ceiling of a chapel dedicated to Osiris inside the Hathor Temple in the Dendera Temple complex around 50 BC. The Dendera Zodiac is one of the best-preserved ancient depictions of the observable stars. It shows all five planets known to the Ancient Egyptians in an alignment that occurs once every one thousand years and both a solar and lunar eclipse. The sky disc is centred on the north pole star, and Ursa Minor is depicted as a jackal. An inner disc is composed of constellations showing the signs of the zodiac. The original Zodiac of Dendera currently resides at the Louvre in Paris.