5 Dollars Teide

Palau has issued commemorative silver under its own authority since 1992, despite having no independent monetary system — the US dollar circulates there by compact, making these pieces pure collector issues from the outset. The Teide series honors Tenerife's volcanic peak, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007 and the highest point in Spanish territory, which has no geographic or political connection to Palau whatsoever. That disconnect is entirely the point: Palau's mint program has always been a licensing operation, selling topographic and wildlife subjects to the European collector market.