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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 standard bullion sizes - such as one ounce of gold (abbreviated as 1 oz Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum). The Echidna coin is the third design in the Australia at Night series of proof coins. The coin features selective platinum plating. Echidnas are small, relatively primitive mammals that are covered with coarse hair and spines, for which reason they are sometimes called spiny anteaters. Superficially they resemble the anteaters of South America, and other spiny mammals like hedgehogs and porcupines. They have snouts which have the functions of both the mouth and nose. Their snouts are elongated and slender. They have very short, strong limbs with large claws and are powerful diggers. Echidnas have a tiny mouth and a toothless jaw. They feed by tearing open soft logs, anthills and the like with their claws, then using their long, sticky tongue which protrudes from their snout to collect their prey. Long-beaked echidnas have tiny spines on their tongues that help capture their meals. Echidnas and the duckbill platypus are the only egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes. The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg twenty-two days after mating and deposits it directly into her pouch. Hatching takes ten days; the young echidna, called a puggle, then sucks milk from the pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples) and remains in the pouch for forty-five to fifty-five days, at which time it starts to develop spines. The mother echidna digs a nursery burrow and deposits the puggle, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months. | ||||||||||||
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Royal Mint |
Coins featuring Australian Wildlife produced by Downies (ordered by design / metal / year):
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Tasmanian Tiger, Niue 2011
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Tasmanian Tiger, Tuvalu 2011
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Tasmanian Wedge-Tailed Eagle, Niue 2012
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Tasmanian Wedge-Tailed Eagle, Tuvalu 2012
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Tasmanian Devil, Niue 2013
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Tasmanian Devil, Tuvalu 2013
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Frilled Neck Lizard, Niue 2014
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Frilled Neck Lizard, Tuvalu 2013
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Green Turtle, Niue 2014
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Green Turtle, Tuvalu 2014
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Thorny Devil Lizard, Niue 2015
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Thorny Devil Lizard, Tuvalu 2014
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Mahogany Glider, Niue 2015
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Mahogany Glider, Tuvalu 2015
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Blue Tongue Lizard, Niue 2016
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Blue Tongue Lizard, Tuvalu 2015
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Southern Cassowary, Niue 2016
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Southern Cassowary, Tuvalu 2016
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Australian Goanna, Niue 2017
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Australian Goanna, Tuvalu 2016
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Green and Golden Bell Frog, Niue 2017
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Green and Golden Bell Frog, Tuvalu 2017
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Saltwater Crocodile, Niue 2018
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Saltwater Crocodile, Tuvalu 2017
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Powerful Owl, Niue 2018
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Endangered and Extinct - Powerful Owl, Tuvalu 2018
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Green Tree Python, Niue 2019
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Green Tree Python, Tuvalu 2018
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Platypus, Niue 2019
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Platypus, Niue 2018
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Red Kangaroo, Niue 2019
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Red Kangaroo, Niue 2019
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Wildlife Up Close - Wedge-Tailed Eagle, Niue 2019
- 1 oz Silver Antique, Wildlife Up Close - Wedge Tailed Eagle, Niue 2019
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Wildlife Up Close - Tasmanian Devil, Niue 2020
- 1 oz Silver Antique, Wildlife Up Close - Tasmanian Devil, Niue 2019
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Wildlife Up Close - Frilled Neck Lizard, Niue 2020
- 1 oz Silver Antique, Wildlife Up Close - Frilled Neck Lizard, Niue 2020
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Australia's Remarkable Reptiles - Snake-Neck Turtle, Niue 2020
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Echidna, Niue 2020
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Echidna, Niue 2020
- 1 oz Gold Proof (with pearl insert), Great Barrier Reef, Niue 2020
- 1 oz Silver Proof (with pearl insert), Great Barrier Reef, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Wombat, Niue 2021
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Wombat, Niue 2021
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Dingo, Niue 2021
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Dingo, Niue 2021
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Wildlife Up Close - Kangaroo, Niue 2021
- 1 oz Silver Antique, Wildlife Up Close - Kangaroo, Niue 2021
- 5 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Parrots of Australia, Niue 2021
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Leadbeater's Possum, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Leadbeater's Possum, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Barn Owl, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Barn Owl, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Gold Proof, Koala, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Silver Proof, Koala, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Platypus, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Platypus, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Gold Proof, Honey Bee, Niue 2022
- 5 oz Silver Proof (selective gold plating), Honey Bee, Niue 2025
- 1 oz Silver Proof (selective gold plating), Honey Bee, Niue 2022
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Great Australian Desert, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Silver Proof (selective gold plating), Great Australian Desert, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Flying Fox, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Flying Fox, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Azure Kingfisher, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Azure Kingfisher, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Australia's Funnel-Web Spider, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Gould’s Birds - Eastern Rosella, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Gould’s Birds - Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo, Niue 2023
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Gould’s Birds - Black Swan, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Gould’s Birds - Rainbow Lorikeet, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Gold Proof, Peacock, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Silver Proof (selective gold plating), Peacock, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Rock Wallaby, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Rock Wallaby, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Fairy Penguin, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Fairy Penguin, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Gold Proof (selective platinum plating), Australia at Night - Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Black), Australia at Night - Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Cute and Cuddly - Baby Dingo, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Cute and Cuddly - Baby Dingo, Niue 2024
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Gould’s Birds - Kookaburra, Niue 2025
- 1 oz Gold Proof (Coloured), Cute and Cuddly - Baby Numbat, Niue 2025
- 1 oz Silver Proof (Coloured), Cute and Cuddly - Baby Numbat, Niue 2025
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Royal Mint |
Country | Niue |
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Currency | Niue Dollar |
Coin Type | Gold Ounce (1 oz) |
Issued | 2020 |
Monarch | Queen Elizabeth II |
Effigy | Queen Elizabeth II - Fourth Portrait, by Ian Rank-Broadley |
Face Value | 100 (x Dollar) |
Total Mintage | 150 |
Current | Yes |
Material | 0.9999 Gold |
Technology | Milled (machine-made) |
Shape | Round |
Orientation | Medal Alignment (Axis 0) |
Size | 38.6000 mm |
Mass | 31.1000 g |
OCC ID | APVZ-OYRC-DJPV-ELMD |