Gold Half Ounce 2021 Whānau Mārama - Sun, Coin from New Zealand - detailed information

New Zealand uses the New Zealand Dollar as its circulation currency for daily transactions. The country also issues a number of commemorative and collector coins, including in the internationally popular gold half-ounce format (abbreviated as 1/2 oz Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum). Authorised by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the official issuer of these coins is NZ Post - which also issues the country's postal stamps. Manufacturing of the coins is commissioned to various foreign mints.

The coins are "Non-Circulating Legal Tender" (NCLT) and not bullion because they are issued at prices much higher than their intrinsic value and are targeted at collectors who appreciate them for their artistic or sentimental value, and not at bullion investors.

This coin is part of a New Zealand range illustrating Māori (Maori) legends.

Tamanuiterā (the Sun) and Marama (the Moon) together with Ngā Whetū Matariki (the Pleiades star cluster) make up the family of heavenly bodies known as te Whānau Mārama (the Family of Light).

Knowledge of the relationship between Ngā Whetū Matariki, Tamanuiterā and Marama has been handed down over time through wānanga (schools of learning) and pūrakau (folk stories) of Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. Knowledge of the rising and positioning of Tamanuiterā and the phases of the Marama, together with the positioning and movement of ngā Whetū is known as Tātai Arorangi and was retained by tohunga kokorangi and tohunga tātai arorangi (astromonical experts).