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).
This coin is part of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World series by the Czech Mint, and depicts the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
The mint says about it:
Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor - a narrow strip of coastline full of countless bays - is a veritable treasure trove of historical civilisations. Long before our era, advanced cultures flourished in breathtaking cities. While the northernmost Greek colony was the mythical Troy, the very southern one was the metropolis of Halicarnassus, famous as the home of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The city was ruled by the proud King Mausolos II, who wished above all to be remembered for all time. Therefore, he let build a majestic tomb for himself to compete with the pyramids of Egypt. The monument resembled the classical Greek temples with supporting columns, but with a height of forty-five metres it was built on a massive base. The roof took the form of a stepped pyramid, which was crowned with a gigantic sculpture of Mausolus and his wife Artemisia riding in a chariot drawn by a horse-drawn quadruped. Unfortunately, the king did not live to see the completion of the building. After he died, the Queen, who loved her husband more than anything in the world, oversaw the completion of the monument. The building, which came to be called the Mausoleum - or "belonging to Mausolus" - was so magnificent that the name became a generic term for any large tomb. Mausolus' wish came true - his name will live on forever. |
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The obverse of the coin shows at its centre the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait"). 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.
In small letters below the head, the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley).
The effigy is smaller than usual and is surrounded by a wide rim divided by depictions of Greek columns into eight sectors. Seven of these depict the seven wonders of the ancient world: the Egyptian pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse on the island of Pharos. In the eighth sector below, on five lines the monarch's legend, face value and date of issue: NIUE ISLAND 50 DOLLARS ELIZABETH II 2022.
Near the rim below left, the mint mark of the Czech Mint - a crowned monogram of the letters ČM (Česká mincovna). |
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