50 Dollars - Elizabeth II Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire between 1532 and 1572 produced one of history's most lopsided military outcomes — a few hundred Spanish soldiers dismantling a civilization of millions, largely through the capture and execution of Sapa Inca Atahualpa at Cajamarca. The ransom paid for Atahualpa's release before his eventual murder amounted to a room filled with gold and two rooms of silver, the single largest ransom in recorded history.

Cook Islands issued numerous $50 silver crowns in this period targeting the collector market directly, with this Pizarro piece part of a broader explorer series produced under license arrangements common to the island's prolific commemorative program of the early 1990s.