Silver Two Ounces 2020 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 large two ounces of silver format (abbreviated as 2 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum). 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 an annual series featuring a new Kiwi design every year, and depicts New Zealand’s rarest kiwi - the Rowi.

There is one natural population of about 450 rowi (Apteryx rowi) in Ōkārito forest and surrounds in South Westland. Ōkārito was designated as one of the five special Kiwi Sanctuaries in 2000. Rowi can also be found on two predator-free islands in the Marlborough Sounds, following successful translocations of birds. Unlike some other kiwi species, male and female rowi both take turns incubating their eggs. Although they do not rely on their parents for food and protection (all kiwi chicks are self-sufficient as soon as they hatch), rowi juveniles often stay with their family group for years. Rowi are slow breeders, normally laying just one egg per year - making the death of an adult bird all the more devastating to the population.

The coin is finished with selective gold and ruthenium plating; the edge is plated with gold too.