Owner Comments:
WORLD COIN APPEARANCE/CONDITION:
U.S. State Animal Series - "Colorado - Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep" - Cook Islands $5 Silver Commemorative Coin
TOP POP: Perfect 70 — NGC “7k/seven k” Special Label
*Colorized obverse depicting a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is sharp, defined, and has exceptional eye-appeal. The remainder of the coin is brilliant white, grading MS-70 at the top of NGC’s population report. Defined as a “perfect” coin.*
WORLD COIN DESCRIPTION:
This is the “first” colorized coin in the this entire collection; and will likely be the only one. I was never personally a fan of colorized coins but over time, this issue in particular grew on me. It clearly has a place in this collection. I had considered buying an example for about a year at the time of writing this (November 2022). Finally, I found an NGC graded example where the price was right and chose to purchase it. I think it adds both character and historical value to the collection from a world perspective via its relation to Colorado.
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7k U.S. State Animal Coin Series:
“A 7k exclusive collection, the U.S. State Animal Series is available to our members who choose the State Animal Autosaver program. This collection features an official state animal on a 1oz silver coin for each U.S. state. (Not to be confused with the 7k U.S. State Label series, which is part of our State Label Autosaver program.) Each coin features the 7k logo hidden in the obverse design. See if you can find it! This is sure to be a very valuable collection.” — Credited Source: 7k Metals
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Colorado State Animal Coin:
Description on Original COA Card: “Named for their massive, curling horns, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep are found only in very rugged terrain high up in the Rockies. These tough guys don't shed their horns like antlers on deer or elk, they carry that giant rack (weighing up to 30lbs!) around their entire life. Dominance is established between rams by body and horn size, with they use to head-butt one another when disputes arise.”
ISSUER: Cook Islands
MINT: Mayer Mint
CURRENCY: 5 Dollars
RARITY: 7,777 (Total Minted)
(*TOP POP* NGC Pop = 4,993; NONE Finer - NGC Total Pop = 4,997) [11/2022]
WORLD COIN DESCRIPTION:
(Cook Islands $5, Mayer Mint, .999 Silver, 31.103g [1 Troy oz.], 39mm, Round, Reeded Edge)
OBVERSE: American State Animals / (Colorized) Colorado / (Image of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep) / Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
REVERSE: (Depiction of Eagle holding Fish Flying into Nest with 2nd Eagle Stationary) / Elizabeth II · 5 Dollars · Cook Islands • 2021 (Bust of Elizabeth II above date)
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
(7k Metals):
“We created 7k because we genuinely want to improve the lives of people around the world. We have watched way too many of our friends struggle as the economy fluctuates, employment issues arise, or unexpected changes come up in life. Using the power of Gold and Silver, we believe we can provide a way for people to create financial independence, preserve their wealth, and live an exceptional life. We started this company because WE BELIEVE IN YOU!.” — Credited Source: 7kmetals.com
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(Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep):
“The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to 14 kg (30 lb); the sheep typically weigh up to 143 kg (315 lb).
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Bighorns from the Rocky Mountains are relatively large, with males that occasionally exceed 230 kg (500 lb) and females that exceed 90 kg (200 lb). The Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep occupy the cooler mountainous regions of Canada and the United States. In contrast, the desert bighorn sheep subspecies are indigenous to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Mexico.“ — Credited Source: "Bighorn Sheep". Nature Guide. eNature.com. Archived from the original on 2004-11-09.
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(Cook Islands):
“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 (93 sq mi). The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,960,027 square kilometres (756,771 sq mi) of ocean.” — Credited Source: Cook Islands Maori dictionary by Jasper Buse & Raututi Taringa, Cook Islands Ministry of Education (1995) page 200
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The Cook Islands were first settled around AD 1000 by Polynesian people who are thought to have migrated from Tahiti an island 1,154 kilometres (717 mi) to the northeast of the main island of Rarotonga.
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The first European contact with the islands took place in 1595 when the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira sighted the island of Pukapuka, which he named San Bernardo (Saint Bernard). Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, a Portuguese captain at the service of the Spanish Crown, made the first European landing in the islands when he set foot on Rakahanga in 1606, calling the island Gente Hermosa (Beautiful People). — Credited Source: Hooker, Brian (1998). "European discovery of the Cook Islands". Terrae Incognitae. 30 (1): 54–62. doi:10.1179/tin.1998.30.1.54.