1 Dollar - Elizabeth II Cathedral of Cologne

Part of Cook Islands' long-running series of gold-plated copper souvenir dollars issued under license arrangements that have little to do with Pacific monetary policy, this piece commemorates the Cologne Cathedral, whose construction spanned over six centuries — begun in 1248, abandoned for roughly 300 years with a crane left perched on the unfinished south tower, and finally completed in 1880. At the time of its completion, it was briefly the tallest structure in the world, a title it held for four years before the Washington Monument surpassed it.