1970 Cook Bicentenary Crown

The 1970 Cook Bicentenary Crown was struck with a reverse design directly based on an 18th-century engraving of HMS Endeavour, the very ship that carried James Cook to New Zealand in 1769.

This made it a straightforward tribute to his voyages, avoiding the usual embellishments that numismatists tire of hearing. The coin came in both .500 fine silver and copper-nickel versions, with the obverse showing a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, as was standard for the era. It measured 38.61 millimeters in diameter, weighing 28.28 grams for the silver variant.

Minted by the Royal Mint in London, since New Zealand lacked its own facility, the exact production numbers are recorded but vary by source; I won't speculate. As for myths, no, Cook didn't discover New Zealand on this coin—he's just commemorated here, plain and simple. That's enough said.