5 Dollars - Elizabeth II Independence

Issued to mark the tenth anniversary of Trinidad and Tobago's independence from Britain, achieved on August 31, 1962. The country had been a British crown colony since 1889, itself a merger of two separately administered islands — a political convenience that shaped the nation's awkward federal identity for decades after.

The Franklin Mint struck commemorative issues for numerous newly independent Caribbean states during the early 1970s, and this series is no exception. Collector demand rather than domestic circulation drove mintage decisions.