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). Many of these feature famous movie characters.
This coin is part of New Zealand Mint's large collection dedicated to characters and themes from the Star Wars series of movies. It celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Return of the Jedi is the sixth episode of George Lucas' Star Wars saga and picks up where the plot of The Empire Strikes Back left off. The plot deals with the threat of the second Death Star, the construction of which would destroy the Rebels. The alliance around Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa once again goes into battle against the Empire, and is able to achieve the destruction of the mighty Death Star and finally celebrate the liberation from the Empire's rule. |