50 Dollars - Elizabeth II Paul de Maisonneuve

Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, founded Ville-Marie — the settlement that became Montréal — in 1642, landing on the island despite explicit warnings from the Governor of New France that the site was indefensible against Iroquois attack. He persisted anyway, and the colony survived. Cook Islands issued a wave of these foreign-subject gold pieces through the early 1990s, largely targeting the collector and gift market rather than any circulating purpose; the .583 fineness itself reflects a deliberate cost calculation rather than any local monetary tradition.