5 Dollars Year of the Mouse, gilt

Part of Palau's long-running lunar series aimed squarely at the Asian collector market, this piece was issued for the Year of the Rat — the first sign in the twelve-year cycle, and the year that opened what would become an extraordinarily disrupted decade. The gilt finish is applied selectively, a production technique Palau's contracted mints have used since the early 2000s to differentiate premium variants within the same release year.

Palau itself issues no independent monetary policy; these coins are legal tender in name only, struck under licensing arrangements with private minting houses in Europe.