Cook Islands. 10 dollars 2022. Silver .999. Two-ounce 45 mm. Proof. Mintage: 999 pieces. Special technology: Smartminting® (Ultra High Relief) with partial color application. Minted by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich. Hover to zoom.
Description of the Coin
One side features a woman’s head with a pointed hat. Her open hair falls around her face, and her right hand rests on her left shoulder. In front of her is a black raven, its eye exactly above the woman’s left eye. The background is filled with geometric patterns. On the right is RAVEN WITCH / EYE OF MAGIC, and below is the year 2022.
The other side features the portrait of Elizabeth II. Below is IRB (Ian Rank-Broadley), and around it is the legend ELIZABETH II 10 DOLLARS COOK ISLANDS 2022.
Background
Ravens are intelligent birds. Nonetheless, they used to have a bad image. In Europe, they had been considered bringers of bad luck for centuries. They were found on battlefields and over dead animals, satisfying their hunger as scavengers. Therefore, popular belief associated them with witches. Among other things, witches were believed to be able to transform into a raven. That is why peasants nailed a raven with spread wings to their barn door to ward off magic.
Today we know that historical “witches” were nothing but harmless people outside the norm that were used as scapegoats. Then, people believed that there was somebody responsible for the cold spells and the continuous rain that spoiled harvests during the Little Ice Age of the 16th to 18th centuries.
Nowadays, a different image of witches prevails. They are considered fascinating, multi-faceted personalities who can bring good into the world by acting in harmony with nature and for nature if they choose to practice white magic. CIT sets a monument to these new witches with its issue Raven Witch — Eye of Magic. Thanks to fine-tuned smartminting technology, the portrait of a fascinating woman merges with the watchful gaze of her raven. Visually, the raven and witch merge to form an avian-human face, as the raven’s eye is exactly where the eye of the witch should be.
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If you want to experience all three dimensions of this coin, you have to watch this film:
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