Catalog
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| Issuer | Government of the Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.5 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
This piece belongs to a short-lived series of fractional gold coins issued by Cook Islands in the mid-2000s, targeting the collector bullion market at a moment when five-nines purity (.99999) was being aggressively marketed as a premium differentiator over the standard .9999 gold common to sovereign bullion programs. The papal subject reflects Benedict XVI's election in April 2005 — the first new pope in 26 years — which generated an immediate wave of commemorative issues from minor issuing authorities worldwide.
Cook Islands itself mints nothing; production was handled by a contracted private mint, almost certainly in Europe.