20 Dollars - Elizabeth II Pieta

The Pietà depicted here is Michelangelo's 1499 marble sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica — the only work he ever signed, reportedly after overhearing visitors attribute it to a Lombard sculptor. Cook Islands has issued a sustained run of high-relief art replica coins through the New Zealand Mint, and this piece falls within that program, struck in .999 silver at a weight heavy enough to render meaningful three-dimensional relief across the composition's drapery and figural elements.