5 Dollars (Bald Eagle Recovery and National Emblem)

The $5 gold coin for a bird that came back from the brink

By the 1960s the bald eagle — the bird on the back of every American dollar — was nearly gone. In 2007 it was officially taken off the endangered list. The next year, the U.S. Mint struck a small gold coin to celebrate the comeback, with the surcharge funding eagle conservation.