5 Dollars - Elizabeth II Papal Visit to Czech Republic

John Paul II's 1990 visit to Czechoslovakia — the first by a pope since the fall of communism — drew an estimated 200,000 people to Velehrad alone, a site of particular Slavic Catholic significance. By 2009, when this piece was issued, the Czech Republic had been an independent state for sixteen years and the visit itself had acquired the weight of a watershed moment in post-Soviet religious history. Cook Islands had no connection to any of this; the island nation was, as frequently, lending its issuing authority to a commemorative program aimed squarely at the European collector market.

The Swarovski crystals are an Austrian inclusion — the firm is headquartered in Wattens, Tyrol.