1 Dollar - Elizabeth II James Cook

Cook's third and final Pacific voyage, which brought him through Fijian waters, ended with his death at Kealakekua Bay in February 1779 — making any commemorative framing of his Pacific "exploration" politically complicated by the late 2000s. Fiji issued this piece during a period of acute constitutional instability; the 2006 military coup had suspended parliamentary government, and the Reserve Bank was operating under an interim regime when this coin was authorized.