50 Dollars - Elizabeth II Ferdinand Magellan

This issue belongs to a wave of large-format silver commemoratives produced by Cook Islands in the late 1980s under licensing arrangements that had little to do with the islands themselves — Magellan never came within thousands of miles of the Cook Islands. The series was marketed primarily to collectors in Europe and North America, with actual circulation an afterthought.

Magellan was killed in the Philippines in April 1521, before his expedition completed its circumnavigation. Juan Sebastián Elcano brought the Victoria home.