...Cook Islands - $3 Polymer Banknote ND2021

 Kuki 'Airani

(Cook Islands)

 

Cook Islands Minister of Finance and Economic Management

Currency : Dollar (CID)

This is a new $3 polymer note, which was initially reported to be released on 04.08.2021, to coincide with the island's Constitution Day. However, despite the earlier report, these notes already found their way into dealer's stock in early July for sale.

 

Cook Islands was once under British rule until 1965. Constitution Day is celebrated on August the 4th every year. This is the day when Cook Islands declared a self-governing nation in a free association with New Zealand. However, there is nothing printed on the note to say that this is a commemorative note.

 

Cook Islands was once known as the Hervey Isles after a British Lord. Funny thing is that why a foreign countries name a foreign land and not their own inhabitants? However, it changed the name to Cook Islands in 1823, after the British Explorer Captain James Cook, who first visited the island in 1773.

 

You must be wondering how the British got hold of Cook Islands in the first place. Spoiler alert, no surprises here. It's just a matter of time, by hook or by crook! In 1888, the islanders were afraid that they may be about to be invaded by the French and invited the British to take over their islands as British territory, thus becoming a British protectorate. This went on for another 77 years and on 04.08.1965, it became a self-governing nation. Since then, August the 4th is known as Constitution Day and is also a public holiday in Cook Islands. In 2001, it renamed this day and called it Te Maeva Nui, which means "a great celebration" day. This day is celebrated with different activities and events throughout the country. Since gaining independence in 1965, Cook Islands retains the British monarch as their Head of State and Queen Elizabeth The Second is represented by a Governor General. The current Governor General is Sir Tom Marsters, who was also born on the 4th of August in 1945. 

 

In order to have their own identity, the people in Cook Islands are now talking about changing the colonial name to reflect their own identity and heritage. Like Australia and New Zealand, the flag of Cook Islands still retains the Union Jack on their national flag. This is not the first time they talked about having their name changed. In 1994, a vote was put forward for the name change but was rejected. I am unable to find any alternate names suggested so far. In Maori, Cook Islands are known as Kuki Airani.

Whilst some might say that this is an odd denomination of currency issued in Cook Islands, this is not the first time this small South Pacific nation of 17,000+ inhabitants have encountered this. In 1987, the Treasury Department released a $3 note for circulation, and in 1992 issued another one with overprint commemorative on the 1987 issue. Also in 1992, a new design of the $3 note was also issued.

 

As I have mentioned above, the Cook Islands is a very small nation. The Island nation comprises 15 islands scattered over a vast area in the South Pacific ocean. The country's nearest neighbours are Niue to the west and French Polynesia to the east. The Cook Islands is in free association with New Zealand. The nation's defense and foreign affairs are managed by the Government of New Zealand. However, such responsibilities are exercised with consultations with the Government of Cook Islands.

 

Whilst Cook Islands may have issued banknotes of its own, it doesn't have a central bank. The New Zealand dollars are widely circulating among the small population and the NZ dollar is also at par with the Cook Islands dollar. Given such a small population, it is very unusual to see them issuing their own currency, and many other smaller countries in the Pacific ocean are either using the currency of Australia or New Zealand. The benefit of this is that it provides some form of financial stability and also cost saving in manufacturing and printing their own money, which can cost millions depending on the quantity. However, coins in circulation have been issued by the Cook Islands government since 1972.

The design on the front of this polymer banknote is very much the same as the one first issued in 1987. On the front, it depicts a young woman (Ina) holding a coconut with both her hands on her chest and taking a ride on the back of a Great White shark swimming in a very rough sea. According to the locals in Cook Islands, there is a story about Ina and the shark.

According to the locals, the legend of Ina and the shark are both from Cook Islands. Ina was stranded on an island, far away from her home and the only way for her to go home is by sea. She sought help from all the sea animals but no one came forward to help. A shark saw pity on her and decided to give her a ride home. While preparing for the journey, Ina decided to take a few coconuts with her as food and drinks. During the journey, Ina got thirsty and asked the shark if she could crack a coconut with his fin, which the shark agreed. As the journey continued, Ina needed to relieve herself and decided to pee on the shark's back thinking that the shark would not mine or notice it. The shark got angry and because of this legendary story, the locals complained that the shark meat smelled like urine because of what Ina did. As the journey continues, Ina seeks the shark's permission to break another coconut with his fin, which the shark refused because he was still angry about Ina relieving herself on him earlier. However, Ina could not bear the hot sun and decided to crack another coconut and this time she did it on the shark's head, and to the locals, this is how the hammer sharks got its head. This time the shark got really angry (can you blame him?) and throw Ina off his back and went for a deep dive, letting Ina to drown herself. Fortunately, Tekea the Great (the king of all sharks), pitied her and rose from the deep, rescued her and took her all the way home. Happy ending!

 

From the design, you can see that Ina is about to crack the coconut on the shark's fin and you can tell from the note that the shark was not too happy with Ina. Here, Ina is depicted with humongous long dark hair and topless. On the right is a diamond shaped see-through window printed with a rising sun over the open sea.

 

I am not sure what the moral of this story is. I suppose, don't be a dick if someone is offering you assistance and be grateful and don't over step the generosity.  

On the back, the note features a man sitting on a canoe watching the rising sun. To the left is a Te Rongo, Cook Islands god. This note is printed with two see-through windows, with the larger one in a diamond shape and the other one in a triangle shape.

 

Three Dollars

Ina holding a coconut against her bare chest riding on the back of a great white shark

 

Signature

Minister of Finance - Hon. Henry Puna Mark Brown. Mark Brown is also the Prime Minister of Cook Islands since taking office on 01.10.2020. Apart from the Minister of Finance, he also holds half of other Ministry positions in the government. His name is printed on the banknote just below his signature. There are not many banknotes issued around the world where the name of the signature is also printed on the note. 

Dimensions - 140mm x 68mm

Man sitting on a canoe, Te Rongo on the left

 It is not sure how many pieces were printed for this issue. From my observation so far, I have only sighted the AA prefix, with serial no as high as 3xxxxx. In addition to this, I have also sighted the replacement notes printed with ZA prefix with serial no as high as 2xxxxx. It is unlikely that this series was printed with NPA because of the replacement notes, and also the see-through windows look very similar to those issued in Fiji (DLR prints). Very few texts are printed on this note. The only English texts printed on the notes are the country name, the value and name and title of the signature. A legal clause is also printed on the front of the note, but this is in Maori, the native language spoken on Cook Islands.

Replacement note prefix ZA

Replacement note prefix ZA

 

Apart from the AA and ZA prefix, specimen notes are also made available to collectors too. Each specimen note is also printed with a control number and based on my sighting, at least 1000, or even more pieces were printed. There are plenty available in the market. With such a small population and the New Zealand currency freely circulating in the country, it is not sure why these notes are printed, unless there is a demand for a lower denomination of note, as the smallest New Zealand note is the $5. Given the speed of the delivery and also all these varieties of notes made available to collectors, I have a feeling that this issue is more like a numismatic product, rather than the need of the nation.
 

Specimen note

Specimen note

 

This note reminds me of those fantasy notes privately printed for sale, which are totally worthless. The only difference between them is that this note is less colourful from those fantasy ones.

Footnote

Cook Islands is the 8th nation in the Oceania region that have issued polymer banknotes, joining countries like Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa. The only countries that have yet to issue one are the French Pacific Territories, Niue, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Pitcairn Islands and Tonga. Some of these island nations are so small that they do not have their own currency and instead use either Australian or New Zealander dollars. For example, the nation of Kiribati has a population 7 times more than the Cook Islands, and yet they use the Australian dollar as their own currency.