10 Dollars - Elizabeth II Great Star of Africa

The Great Star of Africa — formally the Cullinan I — was cut from the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, the 3,106-carat Cullinan discovered in the Premier Mine outside Pretoria in 1905. The Transvaal government purchased the stone and presented it to King Edward VII, a diplomatic gesture carrying considerable political weight just four years after the end of the Boer War. Cullinan I was cleaved and polished by the Asscher brothers of Amsterdam, who reportedly studied the stone for months before making the first cut.