5 Dollars St Patrick's Cathedral

Palau has issued collector silver under its own authority since 1992, exploiting a provision of its Compact of Free Association with the United States that permits the republic to mint legal tender without running an independent central bank. The St. Patrick's Cathedral piece belongs to a long-running series of architectural and religious commemoratives produced almost entirely for the foreign collector market — Palau's domestic economy runs on the U.S. dollar, and none of these coins ever circulate.

The cathedral depicted was completed in 1878 after 21 years of construction, financed largely through pew rentals and donations from New York's Irish immigrant community.