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1 Dollar - Elizabeth II A Bao
| Issuer | Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 2003 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A full-length colored depiction of A Bao, a female figure from Chinese literary tradition, shown seated beside an ornate chair and rendered in traditional Chinese costume of green, red, and yellow robes with elaborate floral embroidery. She extends her right hand toward a perched green bird amid swirling cloud forms, while a decorative censer rests at her feet. The Chinese characters 阿宝 appear in the lower left field, and the denomination 1 DOLLAR is inscribed to the right. The coloring is applied by the pad-printing technique over a polished silver field. |
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| Additional information |
Issued as part of Cook Islands' long-running program of licensed collector coinage, this piece commemorates A Bao A Qu, the creature from Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings — a being that can only ascend a mythical tower in the company of someone seeking enlightenment. Cook Islands held no particular connection to Borges or the source material; the territory simply had unusually permissive minting arrangements that made it attractive to European distributors producing themed numismatic series throughout the 1990s and 2000s.