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20 Dollars - Charles III Sea Monster
| Issuer | Government of the Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 2025 |
| Type | Non-circulating coin |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A dramatically colored and high-relief scene depicting a colossal kraken-like sea monster attacking a full-rigged sailing vessel from the age of sail. The upper half of the composition, rendered in vivid polychrome color with a holographic or iridescent finish, shows the tall ship under full sail with multiple masts, its ornate gilded stern gallery visible as tentacles coil violently around the hull. The lower half portrays the creature's massive body submerged beneath turbulent teal-green ocean waves, its sucker-lined tentacles rendered in high relief with color application. At the bottom center, a silver skull-and-crossbones medallion or compass rose motif serves as a decorative anchor element. The inscription 'UNDERWATER 2025 FANTASY' appears on a banner or sail in the upper field. |
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| Additional information |
The Cook Islands has operated one of the most prolific commemorative bullion programs in the Pacific since the 1970s, issuing under New Zealand's currency framework while retaining full authority over its own coinage — an arrangement that has made it a favored vehicle for international mint licensing deals. This piece is part of that machinery rather than any domestic monetary program; no Cook Islander will ever spend one.
The sea monster series draws on a long tradition of cartographic horror — the creatures inked onto Renaissance-era maps to mark uncharted waters, most famously codified in Olaus Magnus's Carta Marina of 1539.