500 Dollars Yamato

The Yamato was the heaviest battleship ever built, displacing roughly 72,000 tons at full load, and was sunk in April 1945 during Operation Ten-Go — a one-way mission with fuel enough only to reach Okinawa. Japan sent her without air cover, and American aircraft sank her in under two hours. Over 2,500 of her crew went down with the ship.

Palau has issued high-denomination gold pieces under licensing arrangements that have drawn occasional scrutiny from collectors skeptical of their numismatic legitimacy versus bullion value. The 77.75g fine gold weight is not incidental — it corresponds precisely to 2.5 troy ounces.