25 Dollars - Elizabeth II C.G.E. Mannerheim

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim remains one of the twentieth century's more difficult figures to categorize — Finnish national hero, former Russian Imperial cavalry general, and regent who navigated his country through two wars against the Soviet Union. This Cook Islands issue belongs to a broader collector series exploiting the islands' liberal minting licensing arrangements, which have made them a prolific vehicle for commemorative gold aimed at the European and Asian collector markets rather than any meaningful domestic circulation.

Mannerheim died in Lausanne in 1951. Finland's relationship with his memory has never been uncomplicated.