5 Dollars Rialto Bridge

Palau's ongoing series of architectural landmarks issued under license arrangements has drawn criticism from serious collectors for conflating tourism marketing with numismatic purpose. This piece commemorates Venice's Rialto Bridge, the oldest of the four bridges crossing the Grand Canal, completed in 1591 after decades of debate over its design — Michelangelo, Palladio, and Sansovino all submitted rejected proposals before Antonio da Ponte won the commission with a single-arch solution many contemporaries considered reckless.

Palau has no historical or political connection to Venice whatsoever.