200 Dollars - Elizabeth II Year of the Rat

Cook Islands has issued commemorative gold in large formats under licensing arrangements that effectively make the New Zealand government — which retains responsibility for Cook Islands' foreign affairs and defence — the silent guarantor of the currency. The Year of the Rat carries specific weight in the twelve-year lunar cycle: 2020 marked the beginning of a new cycle, and Chinese diaspora demand for first-year cycle pieces consistently drives premiums above those of mid-cycle issues.

At 155.5 grams, this is a five-troy-ounce piece — a format that appeals more to the bullion-adjacent collector market than to numismatists proper.