20 Dollars - Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee: Street Party

Issued to mark Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, this Cook Islands gold piece belongs to a wave of commemorative coinage that flooded the market in 2002 from Pacific island territories whose royal mint arrangements gave them relatively free rein over commemorative programs. The "Street Party" subject references the public celebrations held across the Commonwealth in June of that year, centered on a four-day bank holiday weekend in the United Kingdom — the largest coordinated public event in Britain since the Festival of Britain in 1951.

The .583 fineness — 14 karat — is characteristic of budget commemorative gold from this period, keeping blanks costs low enough for mass-market collector appeal.