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 coins under the authority of Niue. Most of these are commemorative and collector issues dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to Niue itself. Others are bullion coins in sizes based on the troy ounce, or metric - including the extremely large one kilogram of gold format (abbreviated as 1 kg Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum). These gold coins are targeted at bullion investors and are released at prices close to the intrinsic value of their precious metal content.
The Mint says about this coin:
Cardinals of the antipope focused their hopes on negotiations led by the royal French family in 1380 with the goal to engage king Charles VI (then a minor) to Anne, the young and kind sister of Wenceslas. Cardinal Pileus on the other hand worked hard to frustrate such intentions and, on the contrary, supported Richard II, king of England, who also wanted to marry this princess. Anne of Luxembourg, better known as Anne of Bohemia (1366 - 1394), the eldest daughter of Charles IV, the Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor, and his fourth wife Elizabeth of Pomerania, married Richard II Plantagenet and became the queen of England.
Anne was half-sister of the Czech and Roman king Wenceslas IV, and sister of the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg.The Great Schism in the Papacy which occurred in 1378 influenced the marriage policy of Charles IV. In this year, Italian Bartolomeo di Prignano was elected the new pope, taking the name of Urban VI. French cardinals, however, did not recognise him as pope and elected to the papacy Robert of Geneva who chose the name Clement VII and decided to reside in Avignon. In addition to Italians, Urban VI was supported by Charles IV and Richard II. In this situation, Charles IV considered establishment of closer ties with England a wise move and therefore decided to marry his daughter Anne to the king of England.The marriage indeed resulted in the strengthening of mutual ties of both countries. Thr marriage was a happy one and lasted twelve years.
One of the consequences of the new alliance was the publication of the teachings of English church reformer Wycliff in the Czech kingdom. Anne was known to have been a very kind person and was popular with the people of England, despite the fact that she did not bear children and did not give Richard an heir and descendent. Anne’s premature death from the plague in 1394 was a devastating blow for Richard II. After her death his mental illness broke up in full and lost him his throne. |
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At its centre, surrounded by a dotted border, the obverse of the coin displays the crowned Coat of Arms of Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England, combining symbols of England (three lions), France (fleurs-de-lys), Bohemia (upright lion) and Moravia (eagle).
In the left field, the mint mark of the Czech Mint - a crowned monogram of the letters ČM (Česká mincovna). In the right field, the monogram of the designer, Luboš Charvát.
Below the Coat of Arms, a small portrait of Queen Elizabeth II - the "uncouped" version (showing her shoulders) of her Fourth definitive portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley. Around the effigy, the monarch's legend ELIZABETH II. NIUE ISLAND.
In large letters around the outer rim, the face value 10 000 DOLLARS; above the crown, the date of issue 2011. |
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