Issued in anticipation of the June 2016 Brexit referendum, this Cook Islands piece belongs to a wave of privately commissioned commemoratives produced by the European Mint and similar operations that flooded the market before the vote. Cook Islands has long served as a licensing authority for such issues — its monetary agreement with New Zealand permits legal-tender coinage while placing no meaningful restriction on what themes outside mints can attach to it. The result is a sprawling catalog of topical pieces with negligible circulation history and collector value driven almost entirely by silver spot.
Issued in anticipation of the June 2016 Brexit referendum, this Cook Islands piece belongs to a wave of privately commissioned commemoratives produced by the European Mint and similar operations that flooded the market before the vote. Cook Islands has long served as a licensing authority for such issues — its monetary agreement with New Zealand permits legal-tender coinage while placing no meaningful restriction on what themes outside mints can attach to it. The result is a sprawling catalog of topical pieces with negligible circulation history and collector value driven almost entirely by silver spot.