5 Dollars - Elizabeth II Papal Visit to Spain

Pope Benedict XVI visited Spain twice during his pontificate — in 2006 for World Youth Day in Valencia, and again in November 2010 for the consecration of the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona, at which point Gaudí's unfinished church was finally elevated to minor basilica status after over 130 years of construction. This Cook Islands issue commemorates the 2010 visit. The embedded Swarovski crystals place it firmly in the collector novelty category rather than the numismatic mainstream, a format that was commercially aggressive throughout Cook Islands' silver program during this period.