5 Dollars - Elizabeth II The Attack on Pearl Harbor

Niue has long operated as a vehicle for commemorative issues marketed primarily to collectors in North America, Asia, and Europe — the island's GDP from coin licensing agreements routinely dwarfs anything generated by the pieces entering actual circulation. This Pearl Harbor issue appeared in the lead-up to the 75th anniversary of the December 7, 1941 attack, a period that saw dozens of competing commemoratives from multiple licensing mints.

The attack itself prompted the U.S. declaration of war the following day — the only time Congress has formally declared war since 1942 is the detail most collectors already know. Less noted: the Roosevelt administration had been reading Japanese diplomatic cables for months via the MAGIC intercept program before the strike.