Five Dollars Gold 2012 Fabergé - Caucasus Egg, Coin from Niue - detailed information

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 Caucasus Egg.

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.

The Caucasus Egg was made by Michael Perkhin under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé in 1893. The egg was made for Alexander III of Russia, who presented it to his wife, the Empress Maria Feodorovna. Currently the egg is a long term installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, as part of the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation.

The egg has four fringed doors which open to reveal miniature watercolours depicting landscapes of the Caucasus.