50 Dollars - Elizabeth II Francisco Coronado

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's 1540–1542 expedition into the American Southwest was funded largely out of his own pocket — and his father-in-law's — after Viceroy Mendoza declined to fully back it. He returned to New Spain having found no gold cities, deeply in debt, and facing a criminal investigation for conduct during the campaign. Cook Islands issued a broad series of explorer-themed silver crowns throughout the late 1980s, KM#102 being one of several dozen such pieces aimed squarely at the thematic collector market rather than circulation.