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50 Dollars - Elizabeth II Alexander Mackenzie
| Issuer | Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 1991 |
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| Diameter | 38.86 mm |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, engraved by Raphael David Maklouf, wearing the George IV State Diadem, pearl drop earrings, and a pearl necklace. The portrait is rendered in high relief against a deeply mirrored proof field. The legend ELIZABETH II arcs along the left periphery and COOK ISLANDS along the right, with the date 1991 inscribed at the bottom of the field below the truncation. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Alexander Mackenzie reached the Arctic Ocean overland in July 1793, completing the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico — beating Lewis and Clark to the Pacific by over a decade when he arrived there the same summer. Cook Islands issued a long-running series of commemorative dollars throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s honoring explorers, with this Mackenzie piece falling mid-run in 1991. The series drew frequent criticism for targeting collector markets rather than circulating domestically, a practice that became something of a cottage industry for smaller Pacific island issuers during that period.