1 Dollar Lionfish

Palau's marine-themed coinage program began in 1992 and was produced largely for the collector market rather than domestic circulation — the island nation's actual currency in daily use is the US dollar. The lionfish issue sits within a long series of Pacific wildlife coins struck under license by foreign mints targeting the European and Asian novelty collector trade.

Lionfish became a subject of growing scientific alarm around this period, as invasive populations were documented spreading through Atlantic and Caribbean waters — a crisis traced to aquarium releases beginning in the 1980s.