Cook Islands gained self-governing status in 1965 in free association with New Zealand, and the 1978 dollar series was among the early exercises of the territory's right to issue its own coinage. The Captain Cook dollar is something of an inward-looking piece — Cook charted the islands in 1773 and gave the archipelago the name it still carries, making him a logical choice for a newly autonomous nation building its own numismatic identity.
Cook Islands gained self-governing status in 1965 in free association with New Zealand, and the 1978 dollar series was among the early exercises of the territory's right to issue its own coinage. The Captain Cook dollar is something of an inward-looking piece — Cook charted the islands in 1773 and gave the archipelago the name it still carries, making him a logical choice for a newly autonomous nation building its own numismatic identity.