Cook Islands – Old Masters of Europe – Vermeer – Pearl – $5 – 2009 – Proof Silver Crown – COA – Famous Johannes Vermeer masterpiece, “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, known as the “Mona Lisa of the North”, is depicted on this Sterling Silver coin. The Cook Islands issued this special coin with an authentic inlaid pearl. Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of ordinary life. Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, using bright colors, sometimes expensive pigments, with a preference for cornflower blue and yellow. He is particularly renowned for his masterly treatment and use of light in his work. This beautiful coin is the first of the series “Old Masters of Europe” and is dedicated to his masterpiece. The obverse depicts Queen Elizabeth II