1 Dollar Sea Horse

Palau's marine conservation dollar series launched in 1995, the same year the island nation's constitution came into force following independence from U.S. administration under the Compact of Free Association. The series was produced for the collector market almost exclusively — Palau had no meaningful domestic coin circulation infrastructure, and these pieces were distributed through international numismatic channels rather than any local economy.

KM#11 is among the earliest strikes in what became a prolific themed program from the Palau mint authority, later notorious for issuing dozens of novelty pieces annually throughout the 2000s.