30 Dollars - Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth I - Armada, Silver 5oz

Pobjoy struck this piece for the Cook Islands to mark the 420th anniversary of the Spanish Armada's defeat — a campaign Philip II had financed partly by melting Spanish-American silver into coin. The irony of commemorating that event in silver is not lost on serious collectors.

The 1588 engagement scattered surviving Armada vessels around the British Isles; more than two dozen wrecked off Ireland alone, several of which were excavated in the 20th century and yielded Spanish reales still recoverable after nearly four centuries submerged.