| Coin | Five Dollars Gold 2012 Fabergé - Cockerel Egg |
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Niue, a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, uses two official legal tender currencies. The New Zealand Dollar is the circulation currency for daily transactions, while the government also authorises legal tender coins in the Niue Dollar currency for collector's purposes.
A number of mints issue a large variety of commemorative and collector coins under the authority of Niue. These coins are dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to Niue itself. Many of them are in bullion sizes based on the troy ounce - such as a fifth-ounce of gold (abbreviated as 1/5 oz Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum), or similar.
This coin is part of a series of coins dedicated to the famous Fabergé eggs, and depicts the Imperial Cockerel egg made in 1900.
A Fabergé egg (Russian: Яйца Фаберже́) is a jewelled egg created by the House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire. Possibly as many as sixty-nine were created, of which fifty-seven survive today. Virtually all were manufactured under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé between 1885 and 1917, the most famous being the fifty-two "Imperial" eggs, forty-six of which survive, made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. Thanks to the exuberance, intricacy and splendour of decoration, Fabergé Eggs have gained a huge popularity as jewellery masterpieces. |
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| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin depicts the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait", by Ian Rank-Broadley). The Queen wears the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" diamond tiara, a wedding gift from Queen Mary (Her Majesty's grandmother) in 1947 - which she also has on the Machin and the Gottwald portraits. The designer's initials are not shown.
Below the neck truncation and over the I of ELIZABETH, the small MW mint mark of the Mint of Poland (m over W), for Mennica Warszawska (Mint of Warsaw).
The effigy is small and is in the upper half of the design, surrounded by a decorative neo-rococo scroll ornament. Horizontally below, ELIZABETH II. Around above, the rest of the legend: NIUE ISLAND.
The lower half of the design shows an open Fabergé egg with a basket of flowers inside (the "Spring Flowers" egg).
Around left, facing outward, the face value and denomination: 5 DOLLARS. Around right, similarly facing out, the date of issue 2012.
Around below right, the hallmark Au 900 (90% gold; "Au" is abbreviated from Aurum, the Latin word for gold, and is internationally used to mark gold coins and jewellery). |
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| Reverse | |
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Within a plain rim, the reverse of the coin shows the Imperial Cockerel egg (also called the Cuckoo Clock egg). The egg was given in 1900 by Tsar Nicholas II to Empress Maria Feodoronova as a gift. The egg has a mechanism on the top rear that enables its bird to come out and move.
Shown in the foreground below is the "surprise" that comes inside the egg - a miniature cockerel.
Around above, in handwriting script, the inscription Imperial Fabergé Eggs. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
Imperial Fabergé Eggs |
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| Edge | Plain | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Included in Set |
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Imperial Fabergé Egg Series Proof Gold Set, mintage unknown, limited to 777
9 coins: Order of St George Egg, Rosebud Egg, Moscow Kremlin Egg, Coronation Egg, Cockerel Egg, Swan Egg, Winter Egg, Lily Bouquet Egg, Napoleonic Egg
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