Most Haunted Places – The Stanley
Cook Islands. 10 Dollars 2023. Silver .999. 2 oz. 50 mm. Black Proof. Mintage: 1,909 pieces. Special technology: smartminting® (Ultra High Relief). Minted by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich.
Description of the Coin
One side depicts the facade of the Stanley Hotel, in front of it the statue of its builder Freelan Oscar Stanley (1849-1940). At the center two girls hovering above the ground, reminiscent of Stephen King’s The Shining (1977). In the upper field 2023 THE / STANLEY and MOST / HAUNTED / PLACES.
The other side features a half-paneled wall, and at the center a Baroque framed mirror. In it is the reflection of Freelan Oscar Stanley. Around it pictures, a clock, and on the right, the portrait of Elizabeth II, around IRB (= Ian Rank-Broadley). Above: 10 DOLLARS, below ELIZABETH II COOK ISLANDS.
Background
CIT kicks off a new series entitled Most Haunted Places. It is dedicated to all the places that are haunted by supernatural phenomena. The first issue presents a hotel that is well-known to every Stephen King fan: during a stay at the Stanley Hotel, which was built in 1909 at the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park, the author was inspired to write The Shining. In this horror novel, King describes the events that unfold at a ghost-haunted resort, which has been shot down for winter. It drives caretaker Jack Torrance insane and eventually results in his trying to murder his own family.
In fact, the Stanley Hotel has been considered a place cursed by paranormal activity ever since the novel was published. With a Cook Islands coin, CIT now sets a numismatic monument to the building. The issue features its facade. In the foreground on the left, we can see the statue of the builder, holding a violin in its hand instead of playing the piano, as his ghost supposedly used to. Right at the center of the building, two little girls hover above the ground. They are reminiscent of the 1980 movie The Shining, a masterpiece directed by Stanley Kubrick featuring the terrific American actor Jack Nicholson.
The other side of the coin reminds us of a well-known ritual in the English-speaking world, according to which you may encounter a ghost if you follow the procedure described by the lower left picture: at three a.m., as shown by the clock on the right, you must stand alone in front of a mirror, a lighted candle in the hand, and shout “Bloody Mary” three times until the mirror shows a face. Whose face it will be? Nobody knows. Perhaps your future love, perhaps a ghost, or maybe a skull in case the necromancer shall meet an untimely end before encountering the love of their life.
Further Information
www.cit.li/coins/most-haunted-places-the-stanley
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