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 a quarter ounce of gold (abbreviated as 1/4 oz Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum).
This coin is part of a New Zealand Mint series dedicated to characters and themes from The Lord of the Rings books and films, and features the Argonath.
In J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings, the Argonath were built in the Third Age between 1248 and 1250 under the 19th King of Gondor, King Rómendacil II. They are two enormous statues of the kings Isildur and Anárion, which stand on the right and left side of the Anduin. Carved from the stone of the rocky gorge, the pillars of the kings shape the entrance to the lake Nen Hithoel. With blind eyes and cracked foreheads, the Argonath look menacingly toward the north. At the same time, the two statues each stretch out their left hand, palm outward, defensively forward. The Fellowship of the Ring passes through the Argonath on February 25th, 3019 of the Third Age on its journey to Mordor. |
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The obverse of the coin features the official Public Seal of Niue.
It has an inner circle of hiapo designs, representing the fonua (land), within which are stylised designs of a tree, representing life and tagata Niue (the people of Niue), surrounded by an outer circle in the form of a traditional Niuean garland of 14 seashells (representing the 14 villages of Niue), and crowned with St Edward's Crown (of the United Kingdom), representing the sovereign as head of state.
Around above between the two circles, the inscription PUBLIC SEAL OF NIUE. Below, a ribbon carries the motto ATUA NIUE TUKULAGI on two lines (meaning "God, Niue Eternally"), below which two crossed katoua (Niue fighting clubs).
Around above, the face value 25 DOLLARS. Around below, the date of issue 2023. |
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