71/2 Dollars - Elizabeth II Hervey Islands

The Cook Islands gained self-governing status in free association with New Zealand in August 1965, but it took nearly a decade before the territory issued its own coinage in earnest. The 1973–1974 series was among the first substantive numismatic releases under that arrangement, and the Hervey Islands designation — an older colonial name for the Cook group, used by 19th-century cartographers — was a deliberate nod to that layered administrative history rather than a current geographic term.

KM#10 was struck in sterling-adjacent silver at a moment when most Pacific territories were abandoning precious metal coinage entirely. The timing was driven more by collector market demand than any circulating currency need.