Cook Islands
Atiu Swiftlet
1977 FM Proof Silver 5 Dollars 42mm (27.30 grams) 0.500 Silver (0.4389 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 17 | Engraver: Arnold Machin, George James Berry
Certification: NGC
PF 69 ULTRA CAMEO 2864237-011
ELIZABETH II COOK ISLANDS 1977, Elizabeth facing right.
FIVE DOLLARS, Five Atui Swiftlets flying southwest.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
The Atiu swiftlet (Aerodramus sawtelli) is a species of bird in the swift family, endemic to Atiu in the Cook Islands.
This small, dark swift measures 10 cm (3.9 in) long. It is sooty-brown above, slightly lighter below.
Its natural habitats are the island’s fernlands and mixed horticultural areas over which it feeds, and in makatea limestone caves within which it nests. The species is known on Atiu as kopeka.
The Cook Islands (Cook Islands Māori: Kūki ‘Āirani) 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). The Cook Islands’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) of ocean.
New Zealand is responsible for the Cook Islands’ defence and foreign affairs, but they are exercised in consultation with the Cook Islands. In recent times, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy. Although Cook Islanders are citizens of New Zealand, they have the status of Cook Islands nationals, which is not given to other New Zealand citizens.
The Cook Islands’ main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (10,572 in 2011), where there is an international airport. There is a larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand itself; in the 2013 census, 61,839 people said they were Cook Islanders, or of Cook Islands descent.
With about 100,000 visitors travelling to the islands in the 2010-11 financial year, tourism is the country’s main industry, and the leading element of the economy, ahead of offshore banking, pearls, and marine and fruit exports.
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