Urbi et Orbi — "to the city and to the world" — is the papal blessing delivered from St. Peter's Basilica on specific feast days and upon the election of a new pope. This coin appeared the year after Benedict XVI's 2007 Christmas address drew an estimated global television audience in the tens of millions, reflecting the period's commercial appetite for Vatican-themed numismatic issues from non-Vatican issuers. Cook Islands had no ecclesiastical relationship with Rome; the license was purely commercial.
The embedded Swarovski crystals required hand-finishing at the Austrian manufacturer's facility before final assembly — a production step that kept mintages on such pieces deliberately low.
Urbi et Orbi — "to the city and to the world" — is the papal blessing delivered from St. Peter's Basilica on specific feast days and upon the election of a new pope. This coin appeared the year after Benedict XVI's 2007 Christmas address drew an estimated global television audience in the tens of millions, reflecting the period's commercial appetite for Vatican-themed numismatic issues from non-Vatican issuers. Cook Islands had no ecclesiastical relationship with Rome; the license was purely commercial.
The embedded Swarovski crystals required hand-finishing at the Austrian manufacturer's facility before final assembly — a production step that kept mintages on such pieces deliberately low.