Obverse. Photo © World Coin Shop
  • 50 Tene 1979, KM# 6.3, Cook Islands, Elizabeth II, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
  • 50 Tene 1979, KM# 6.3, Cook Islands, Elizabeth II, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Description

The Cook Islands is a self-governing island country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. It comprises 15 islands whose total land area is 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi).

"Tene" in the native language equivalent to the English word cent.

Obverse

Second crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara. Date below.

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara was a wedding present in 1947 from her grandmother, Queen Mary, who received it as a gift from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland in 1893 on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of York, later George V. Made by E. Wolfe & Co., it was purchased from Garrard & Co. by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1914, Mary adapted the tiara to take 13 diamonds in place of the large oriental pearls surmounting the tiara. At first, Elizabeth wore the tiara without its base and pearls but the base was reattached in 1969. The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of Elizabeth's most recognisable pieces of jewellery due to its widespread use on British banknotes and coinage.

Engraver: Arnold Machin

ELIZABETH II COOK ISLANDS
1979

Reverse

Depicts Bonito fish below the value and Food and Agriculture Organization abbreviation. Mintmark and engraver's initials below.

Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. The Atlantic bonito is also found in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, where it is a popular food fish, eaten grilled, pickled (lakerda), or baked.

Engraver: George James Berry

50
FAO
FM
JB

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Cupronickel
Weight 13.6 g
Diameter 31.75 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Franklin Mint (FM)

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