Silver Two Ounces 2017 Gods of Olympus - Athena, 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 two ounces of silver format - such as this coin.

This coin is part of a twelve-coin set issued as a sort of continuation of the Perth Mints Gods of Olympus series issued in 2014 (featuring Zeus, Poseidon and Hades), followed by the Goddesses of Olympus series issued in 2015 (Hera, Athena and Aphrodite); these were both issued under the authority of Tuvalu, but the continuation was issued for the Cook Islands.

The coin depicts Athena (or Athene), often given the epithet Pallas, the Greek goddess associated with wisdom, handicraft, and warfare; her Roman counterpart is the goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, particularly the city of Athens, from which she most likely received her name. The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is dedicated to her. Her major symbols include owls, olive trees, snakes, and the Gorgoneion. In art, she is generally depicted wearing a helmet and holding a spear.

Athena was believed to have been born from the forehead of her father Zeus. In some versions of the story, Athena has no mother and is born from Zeus' forehead by parthenogenesis. In others, such as Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus swallows his consort Metis, who was pregnant with Athena; in this version, Athena is first born within Zeus and then escapes from his body through his forehead. In the founding myth of Athens, Athena bested Poseidon in a competition over patronage of the city by creating the first olive tree. She was known as Athena Parthenos - "Athena the Virgin", but in one archaic Attic myth, the god Hephaestus tried and failed to rape her, resulting in Gaia giving birth to Erichthonius, an important Athenian founding hero. Athena was the patron goddess of heroic endeavour; she was believed to have aided the heroes Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, and Jason. Along with Aphrodite and Hera, Athena was one of the three goddesses whose feud resulted in the beginning of the Trojan War.

The coin has antique finish and a rimless design (which extends to the edge without a border).