1 Dollar Pope John XXIII

Palau has issued religious commemoratives since the late 1990s, leveraging its status as an independent republic with full monetary authority to produce themed collector coins that circulate almost nowhere. This piece appeared the year Benedict XVI convened a special commission examining the miracle certifications that would eventually advance John XXIII's beatification cause — John had already been beatified in 2000 but canonization paperwork remained contested for over a decade.