5 Dollars - Elizabeth II Walther von der Vogelweide

Walther von der Vogelweide was the most celebrated Minnesänger of the German-speaking medieval world, active around 1190–1230, and is among the very few medieval poets whose influence extended directly into political satire — his verse openly attacked papal interference in imperial affairs during the Investiture conflicts of his day. A Cook Islands gold issue honoring him is a curiosity of modern bullion licensing: the islands have no cultural connection to medieval German lyric poetry whatsoever, and the series exists purely through the international commemorative coin trade that Cook Islands has aggressively cultivated since the 1990s.