Lullaby – Little Princess
Cook Islands. 5 Dollars. 2019. Silver .999. ca. 1 oz. 38,61 mm. Antique Finish. Mintage: 999 pcs. B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich.
Description
The obverse shows a starry sky with three hearts cut out. In the lower field a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley (IRB) (View Designer’s Profile), and the inscription ELIZABETH II 5 DOLLARS COOK ISLANDS / 2019. A large balloon and heart float in the sky.
The reverse shows a baby girl, holding her teddy and sleeping on a cloud. On her head is a long pointed cap. In the background is the starry sky featuring three cut-out hearts as well as a big balloon and heart.
Background
In 2018 the first issue of Lullaby with the title “Dreaming Boy” was released. It already made use of all the technical processes that we now find again in the second issue, “Little Princess”. The magnificent starry sky with the sparkling stars is struck in an antique finish. This time a balloon and a big heart break through the coin edge, turning a round blank into a challenging-to-mint, specially shaped blank.
Three hearts are cut out of the metal with a process that has been developed especially for CIT Coin Invest AG. It was first employed in 2013 on the multiple-award-winning “Crying Wolf” coin.
“Little Princess” is a perfectly suitable present for birth or baptism as it can be purchased with a music box in which the coin is inserted. The title of the series Lullaby becomes reality when the music box plays the German lullaby “Guten Abend, gut’ Nacht”, composed by Johannes Brahms, that in the English-speaking world became known briefly as “Brahm’s Lullaby”.
The issue is a lavishly designed collector’s coin that can nonetheless be used as a present. It combines the ancient tradition of presenting a newborn child with a lucky coin with a toy that has helped many children fall asleep with its sounds for decades.
This video clip shows you how the music box works with the first coin of the series, “Dreaming Boy”:
