2 Dollars - Elizabeth II Chamois

Cook Islands has issued commemorative wildlife silver in volume since the 1990s, much of it struck by the Bern-based Swissmint or Austrian Mint under contract — the chamois subject here almost certainly originating from the latter, given Austria's long association with the animal as a national emblem and its mint's established relationship with Pacific island commemorative programs. These issues circulate nowhere and are sold directly into collector markets, making the nominal two-dollar face value a legal fiction underwritten by the Cook Islands' longstanding arrangement with New Zealand.