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250 Dollars - Elizabeth II Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci
| Issuer | Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 1990 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing effigy of Queen Elizabeth II wearing a jewelled crown, with a pearl drop earring and necklace visible. The portrait is rendered in high relief against a smooth field. The legend ELIZABETH II arcs along the left rim and COOK ISLANDS along the right rim, with the date 1990 in the exergue below the bust. |
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| Reverse lettering | 500 YEARS OF AMERICA 1492-1992 250 DOLLARS |
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| Additional information |
Amerigo Vespucci's actual contribution to the Age of Discovery remains historically contentious — he almost certainly did not command the voyages he later claimed, and the letters attributed to him, particularly the Mundus Novus of 1503, are now widely believed to have been embellished or outright fabricated by publishers seeking to sell pamphlets. That a continent bears his name rather than Columbus's is largely an accident of cartography: Martin Waldseemüller printed "America" on his 1507 world map based on those disputed letters, and the name simply stuck.
Cook Islands issued a substantial run of gold commemoratives in 1990 targeting the approaching 1992 quincentenary of Columbus's first voyage, with Vespucci appearing alongside other explorer subjects in the series.