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25 Dollars - Elizabeth II Yellowstone
| Issuer | Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 1996 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Crowned and draped effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing a jewelled crown, drop earring, and pearl necklace, as modelled by engraver Raphael David Maklouf; the initials RDM appear on the truncation. The legend ELIZABETH II arcs along the left field and COOK ISLANDS along the right, with the date 1996 positioned in the lower exergue. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field features a colorized adult grizzly bear and her cub rendered in naturalistic brown tones, set against a sculpted landscape of rocky outcroppings and coniferous vegetation in the mirror-polished field. A pine cone motif appears above the bears at centre. The upper legend YELLOWSTONE in large capital letters arcs across the top of the field, with National Park inscribed in script lettering beneath. The denomination 25 DOLLARS is inscribed along the lower rim, with Grizzly Bear in italic script immediately above it. |
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| Additional information |
Cook Islands leveraged its status as a Commonwealth realm with full authority to issue legal tender throughout the 1990s, contracting with private mints to produce large-format commemorative silver for the collector market rather than circulation. This Yellowstone issue is part of that wave — a licensing arrangement that had little to do with the Cook Islands themselves and everything to do with selling bullion-adjacent numismatic product to American buyers drawn to the subject matter.
The 5-troy-ounce format was a deliberate choice for this series, positioning the piece between a standard crown and a full kilo coin at a price point accessible to mid-tier collectors in the mid-1990s silver market.