1 Dollar - Elizabeth II Nelson and Raising Flag

Issued as part of Cook Islands' long-running commemorative dollar program, this piece marks the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar — though struck two years after the 2005 commemorations, placing it firmly in the tail end of a heavily saturated market for Nelson-related issues. The Royal Navy's victory on 21 October 1805 cost Nelson his life aboard HMS Victory, struck by a French sharpshooter from the rigging of the Redoutable at a range of roughly fifteen meters.

The flag signal Nelson ordered hoisted before the engagement — "England expects that every man will do his duty" — required last-minute substitution of the word "expects" because "confides" was not in the signal book's vocabulary index.