Cook Islands. 5 Dollars 2010 "Meteorit Hammadah al Hamra 280"

Cook Islands 5 Dollars Meteorit Hammadah al Hamra 280 (HAH 280)

Technical data for the silver coin:
Issuer: Government of the Cook Islands
Denomination: 5 dollars
Year of issue: 2010
Weight: 25 g
Metal: silver, purity 925/1000
Decoration: color illustration and original meteorite fragment
Diameter: 38.61 mm
Manufacturing: antique look
Certificate included
Mint: 2,500 pieces, all sold out long ago

The meteorite Hammadah al Hamra 280 (HAH 280) fell in 2000 in the Libyan town of Jabal al Gharb in the province of the same name. When it hit the ground, it broke into 20 pieces weighing a total of 16.5 kg. In the catalog of meteorites in this area, it was given the number 280. It belongs to the carbonaceous chondrites and is classified in the very rare CK4 group. Scientific analyses confirm that it is about 700 million years older than our 4.5 billion-year-old solar system. The HAH 280 meteorite originates from the so-called asteroid belt. Today, the generally accepted opinion of scientists is that the asteroid belt arose from the primordial solar nebula. Researchers have proven that CK4 meteorites contain up to 22 amino acids, which are one of the conditions for the origin of life, or the building blocks for the production of proteins in the cell. Hypothetical assumptions state that meteorites such as HAH 280 may have brought the foundations for life on Earth.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the meteorite's landing on Earth, the Pacific nation of the Cook Islands has issued a silver coin featuring a piece of this extremely rare and scientifically interesting meteorite. Science claims that it is around 700 million years older than our mother Earth or our solar system. The colored part of the coin depicts the primordial solar nebula from which this type of meteorite is thought to have formed.