5 Dollars The Creation of Adam (3 of 12)

Part of a twelve-coin series reproducing Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling in colored enamel on silver, this Niuean issue is a product licensing exercise rather than a monetary one — Niue has long sold its nominal sovereignty over coin issuance to private mints seeking a legal framework for collectible rounds that technically qualify as legal tender. The actual issuing authority behind most of these series is the New Zealand-based Mint of New Zealand or European trading houses working through similar arrangements.

The Creation of Adam panel was completed around 1512, the ceiling's ninth year of work.