50 Cents - Elizabeth II Year of the Rabbit

Cook Islands has issued lunar series coinage under New Zealand's administration since the 1990s, leveraging its status as a self-governing territory to produce collector pieces that never circulate domestically. The 2011 Rabbit issue falls within the Chinese lunar calendar cycle, timed to the Year of the Rabbit running from February 3, 2011 to January 22, 2012.

At 15.55 g of .999 silver, this is a half-troy-ounce piece — a format that became increasingly common among Pacific island issuers after spot silver climbed sharply in late 2010 and early 2011, briefly touching $49 per ounce in April of that year.