CIT: Big City Lights — New York

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Description of the Coin

Cook Islands. Five dollars. 2022. Silver .999. One oz. 50 mm. Proof. Mintage: 2,022 pieces. Special technology: Smartminting (High-Relief); black coloring; the city lights in Proof. B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich.

One side of the silver coin features the illuminated skyline of Manhattan with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground, above is BIG CITY LIGHTS.

Cook Islands. Five dollars 2022. Gold .9999. 0.5 g. 11 mm. Proof. Mintage: 5,000 pieces. B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich.

The small gold coin depicts the skyline of Manhattan, too, but from a different point of view; in the background are the stylized rays of the rising sun; above Greetings / from, and in the exergue NEW YORK / 2022.

The other side of both coins features the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley (initials: IRB); around it ELIZABETH II – COOK ISLANDS – 5 DOLLARS.

Background

Big City Lights is a spectacular display of the mastery applied by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt to translate the ideas of CIT’s designers into minted reality. In fact, the glowing lights of Manhattan’s skyline were not achieved by applying white color to windows and streetlights — instead, the effect results from the fact that no black color was applied to the brighter areas. Therefore, the original surface of the Proof coin can shine through. That is why the illuminated skyline of New York looks so incredibly alive. If you hold the coin in your hand and let the light fall in from different angles, the skyline sparkles almost as if it were real.

Applying color in this way requires the utmost level of precision. By combining this with a high-relief coin created with smartminting technology, Big City Lights presents the well-known skyline of the Big Apple as true-to-life as it has never been done before. Big City Lights is a prime example of what true masters of coin craft can achieve when they use an innovative idea to re-combine and masterfully employ established technologies.

Something similar was achieved regarding the attractive small gold coin. In the style of an Art Deco postcard, the New York skyline greets all people who dream of living their American dream in this city.

For further information about the coin, please click here for the silver coin and here for the gold coin.

If you want to fully understand the three-dimensionality of this coin, you have to watch this film.