Pitcairn Islands: collector coins

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The Pitcairn Islands.

The location of the Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific.

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Pitcairn Island.

The Pitcairn Islands group is a British Overseas Territory. It comprises the islands of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno. Henderson Island accounts for 86% of the land area. Pitcairn, the only inhabited island, is a small volcanic outcrop situated in the South Pacific. The nearest places are Mangareva in French Polynesia to the west and Easter Island to the east.The Islands' administrative headquarters are situated in Auckland New Zealand, 5310km (3300 miles) away.

Pitcairn is the least populous national jurisdiction in the world, with a population of only around fifty. The people of Pitcairn are descended from the mutineers of HMAV Bounty and their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn Island is approximately 3.2km (2 miles) long and 1.6km (1 mile) wide with the capital Adamstown located above Bounty Bay and accessed by the aptly named road, "The Hill of Difficulty".

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Flag of the Pitcairn Islands.

The flag of the Pitcairn Islands is a Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton and the coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands in the fly.

The coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands was granted by royal warrant dated November 4, 1969. The coat of arms of the Pitcairn Islands features a shield depicting the anchor and Bible from HMS Bounty. This represents the ancestral history of the islanders, most of whom are descended from the sailors who mutinied on the Bounty in 1789. The design of the shield is green and blue representing the island rising from the ocean. The helmet and crest are a flowering slip of milo and a Pitcairn Island wheelbarrow.

The flag of the Pitcairn Islands was adopted on April 2, 1984. The design was suggested by the Pitcairn Island Council in December 1980 and approved by Queen Elizabeth II in April 1984. The flag was flown on Pitcairn for the first time in May 1984, during a visit by the then Governor, Sir Richard Stratton (1980—84).

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Pitcairn Islands, $50, 1988. 

Pitcairn uses the New Zealand dollar as its official currency.

New Zealand coinage and banknotes circulate there.

It does not issue its own coinage and banknotes.

However, in 1988 Pitcairn issued its first set of collector coins.

Each carried Raphael Maklouf's uncouped portrait of the Queen on the obverse, as seen above.

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Pitcairn, $50, 1988.

The coins of the 1988 set were in denominations of $1, $50 and $250.

The $1 coin was issued in both copper-nickel and silver.

The $50 was in silver only and the $250 dollars was in gold.

The theme of the reverse design was the 150th anniversary of the drafting of the constitution.

The reverse design, created by Robert Elderton of the Royal Mint, shows some of mutineers leaving the HMS Bounty.

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Pitcairn, $1, 1988.

In 1989 a set of collector coins commemorated the 200th anniversary of the mutiny on the Bounty.

This time the design showing the ship was created by artist Ronald Hooker and modelled by Robert Elderton.

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Pitcairn, $250, 1989.

Once again the same reverse design appeared on three denominations: $1, $50 and $250.

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Pitcairn Islands, $50, 1990.

In 1990 the same three denominations commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Establishment of Settlement of Pitcairn.

The reverse design, created by Robert Elderton, shows the abandoned HMS Bounty in flames.

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Pitcairn Islands, 1 dollar, 1997. 

The life of the Queen Mother: being awarded the Order of the Garter in 1936.



Pitcairn Islands, $5, 1997. 

The same design also was depicted on the 5 dollar coin of 1997.

A 75 dollar coin was also minted with the same design.

The next collector coins were not issued until 1997.

The reverse design, by David Cornell, featured the Queen Mother.

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Pitcairn Islands, $10 series, 1999. 

In 1999 it was back to ships.

A gold coin series called "History of the Navy" was issued.

Here you see the coins honouring Pitcairn Island and Oeno Island.


Another coin honoured Ducie Island and featured HMS Swallow.

I do not know whether a similar coin exists to honour Henderson Island.

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Pitcairn, $5, 2002. 

Save the Whales.  40 mm in diameter.

A humpback whale on a mother-of-pearl inset.

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Pitcairn, $5, 2005.  HMS SWallow.

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Pitcairn, $5, 2005.  Gold coin.  The Bounty bible.

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Pitcairn, $2, 2008. 

Pitcairn's first partly gilt coin.

The coin itself was made of silver.


A colourised version of this coin was also issued.

See also: Coloured coins.

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Pitcairn, $2, 2008. 

In 2008 Pitcairn issued its first "Year of" coin, also a colourised coin.

Why would anybody want to celebrate this verminous creature?

And why have "Year of" coins become so ubiquitous?

See: Coins of the Modern Chinese Empire.