50 Cents - Elizabeth II Strawberry

Cook Islands has issued commemorative pieces under licensing arrangements that have little to do with its monetary system and everything to do with the collector market. This strawberry-themed release is part of a long-running series of fruit and flora novelty pieces produced for the numismatic trade, struck in iron with silver plating rather than solid silver — a cost-reduction choice that affects long-term preservation, as the plating is vulnerable to edge chipping and base metal corrosion if the substrate is exposed.