1 Dollar - Elizabeth II To Mars and Beyond

Cook Islands issued a run of themed collector dollars in the early 2000s under licensing arrangements that had little to do with the islands themselves — the "To Mars and Beyond" piece appeared the same year NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers successfully landed on Mars, making January 2004 one of the more convenient moments for a commemorative cash-in. These aluminium bronze issues were struck for the collector and novelty market, not circulation, and were distributed almost entirely through third-party dealers and television shopping channels in the United States and Europe.