10 Dollars - Elizabeth II Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond in 1958, was inspired by the author's observation of child evacuees carrying luggage tags at London's Paddington Station during World War II. The Cook Islands licensing arrangement here is purely a revenue vehicle — the island nation has no meaningful connection to the character but has operated one of the world's most prolific commemorative coin programs since the 1970s, issuing under its own authority while the pieces are designed, marketed, and distributed almost entirely by foreign minting houses.