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5 Dollars - Elizabeth II Grizzly and Salmon

Issuer Cook Islands
Year 2015
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Currency Dollar (1972-date)
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Obverse description Right-facing diademed and draped effigy of Queen Elizabeth II after the portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley, whose initials IRB appear below the truncation. The legend ELIZABETH II is inscribed along the left rim, COOK ISLANDS along the right rim, and 5 DOLLARS along the upper rim. The date 2015 appears in the lower field.
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Reverse description The reverse features a bold yin-yang composition rendered in a stylised Pacific Northwest Indigenous art style, contrasting a frosted matte finish against a polished mirror field. The upper half depicts a grizzly bear, its form abstracted into sweeping curvilinear elements with a circular void at centre, while the lower half portrays one or more salmon rendered in the same graphic idiom, their bodies intertwined in flowing, interlocking shapes. The overall design evokes the ecological interdependence of bear and salmon within a harmonious circular motif. No legends or inscriptions appear on the reverse.
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Additional information

Cook Islands has operated as a prolific third-party commemorative mint since the 1970s, producing legal tender issues almost entirely for the collector market rather than circulation. This piece is part of that commercial numismatic output — its wildlife subject has no particular connection to Cook Islands geography or history, and the denomination carries no practical monetary function on the islands.

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