Gold Quarter Ounce 2016 Kiwi, 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 quarter-ounce format (abbreviated as 1/4 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 features the Great Spotted Kiwi.

The kiwi has been considered the mascot of New Zealand for many years, but despite the best conservation efforts, the numbers continue to decline year on year. Kiwi are mostly nocturnal, omnivorous birds whose closest living relatives are the Australian cassowary and emu, and like them, it cannot fly. The kiwi’s loose, hair-like feathers, long beak and large whiskers give it a scruffy, but endearing appearance.

The great spotted kiwi, also known as the roroa, can be found around the north-western part of the South Island. Sadly, numbers of great spotted kiwi have dropped drastically since New Zealand's colonisation, with only around 15,000 alive today. Unlike other kiwi, which tend to live in dense forests, the great spotted kiwi favours higher-altitude areas, making it difficult to reach for its natural predators (such as stoats, cats and dogs).

The kiwi lays one of the largest eggs in the world in relation to its body size, and the great spotted kiwi (Apteryx haastii) lays the largest eggs of all the species of kiwi. This unique attribute is celebrated in the 2016 Kiwi coin, which is minted in the shape of a kiwi egg. This is New Zealand’s first egg-shaped coin.