2009 COPPER ON SILVER COOK ISLANDS $5 PCGS MINT STATE 69 "MARS METEORITE"

400TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OBSERVATION OF THE PLANET MARS (1609-2009)

CONTAINS A GENUINE PIECE OF THE RED PLANET

CERTIFIED BY PCGS MINT STATE 69 BROWN

COA INCLUDED

OBV: DRAPED BUST OF ELIZABETH II

REV: HEMISPHERE OF SURFACE OF MARS WITH IMBEDDED MARTIAN METEORITE

MARS, ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST POINTS OF LIGHT IN OUR SKY, HAS BEEN OBSERVED BY MAN WITH WONDER SINCE ANCIENT TIMES

THE FAMOUS ITALIAN PSYSICIST, ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMETICIAN, GALILEO GALILEI, WAS THE FIRST TO OBSERVE MARS MORE PRECISELY THROUGH HIS TELESCOPE IN 1609 AD

400 YEARS LATER, THE RED PLANET STILL FUELS THE FIRES OF OUR IMAGINATIONS

NAMED FOR THE ROMAN WAR GOD BECAUSE OF ITS REDDISH APPEARANCE (CAUSED BY RUST FROM A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF IRON OXIDE ON ITS SURFACE SOIL), MARS IS ONLY ABOUT HALF THE SIZE OF EARTH

THE MARS METEORITE STONE INSERTED INTO THIS LIMITED EDITION COIN IS AMONG THE RAREST STONES ABLE TO BE PRIVATELY OWNED WITH LESS THAN 100 KILOGRAMS KNOWN TO EXIST ON EARTH

PROBES FROM EARTH THAT HAVE OBSERVED AND LANDED ON MARS AND EXAMINED THE SOIL BROUGHT BACK GEOLOGICAL DATA WHICH CONFIRMS THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL FORMATION OF THIS METEORITE TYPE (NWA 4925  OLIVINE-PHYRIC SHERGOTTITE OF MARTIAN ORIGIN)

AT THEIR CLOSEST MEASURED DISTANCE IN 2003, THE EARTH AND MARS WERE SEPARATED BY 54.6 MILLION KILOMETERS AND AT THEIR FARTHEST (AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE SUN) SUCH DISTANCE CAN REACH OVER 401 MILLION KILOMETERS

COIN CONTAINS 25 GRAMS OF .925 STERLING SILVER  WITH COPPER OVERLAY

38.61 MM IN DIAMETER

PIECE HAS AN ANTIQUE FINISH 

ONLY 2,500 MINTED!