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5 Dollars - Elizabeth II The Great Tea Race
| Issuer | Cook Islands Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 2016 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1972-date) |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing effigy of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, rendered in fine detail after the fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley, whose initials IRB appear below the truncation. The legend ELIZABETH II arcs along the left periphery, with 5 DOLLARS inscribed above and COOK ISLANDS along the right periphery. The date 2016 appears in the lower field. The portrait is set against a polished proof field. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ELIZABETH II 5 DOLLARS COOK ISLANDS 2016 |
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| Additional information |
The Great Tea Race of 1866 was a genuine commercial spectacle — a fleet of clippers departing Fuzhou within hours of each other, racing 16,000 miles to London to claim the premium paid for the season's first tea. The Taeping and Ariel arrived on the same tide after 99 days at sea, docking within 28 minutes of each other. The race effectively marked the end of an era for the clipper trade; the Suez Canal opened three years later, and steam-powered vessels made the entire exercise obsolete almost immediately.
Cook Islands has issued commemorative silver in this series under its currency authority since the 1990s, with reverse designs typically contracted to outside minting houses.