The Great Tea Race 150th Anniversary 2 Oz Silver Coin 10$ Cook Islands 2016
 
Mintage of only 999 pcs Worldwide!
 
The Great Tea Race of 1866 was one of those events that captured the public imagination of the day and was a race between some quite beautiful sailing merchant vessels, the thoroughbreds of their day, between China and London. Those of you who have seen the Cutty Sark moored at Greenwich in London as a museum ship will have a great idea of what these vessels looked like.

After 99 days on their home-bound journey, the two fastest ships - the «Taeping» and the «Ariel» - arrived with a mere time difference of 25 minutes. The design of these coin issues is based on the oil painting by famous British maritime artist Jack Spurling. It shows the close finish between the two ships in the English Channel after a three-month head-to-head race, depicting their full sails with an astonishing high relief.
 
The reverse of this interesting Silver coin features two of the fastest ships – the “Taeping” and “Ariel” and marks the 150th anniversary of The Great Tea Race, in 1866. The coin is very attractive thanks to a new technology – Smartminting - with unprecedented dimensions of high reliefs. The design of these coin issues is based on the oil painting by famous British maritime artist Jack Spurling. It shows the close finish between the two ships in the English Channel after a three-month head-to-head race. All around of the reverse, the inscriptions: “The Great Tea Race of 1866”, “Be The First To Dock In London” and “150th Anniversary 2016”.
 
On the coin's obverse the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the face value – 10 Dollars and the year – 2016.