50 Dollars - Elizabeth II Giovanni da Verrazano

Verrazano's 1524 voyage along the North American coast — commissioned by Francis I of France — produced the first known European account of New York Harbor, where he anchored briefly before continuing north. He never returned. A subsequent voyage in 1528 ended with his death in the Caribbean, almost certainly killed and eaten by Carib islanders while his crew watched from the ship.

Cook Islands became an aggressive issuer of commemorative silver in the early 1990s, producing dozens of explorer and historical series pieces for the collector market rather than circulation.