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 tenth ounce of gold (abbreviated as 1/10 oz Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum).
This coin was issued as part of a four-coin gold proof set by the Czech Mint, featuring the Lords of Pernštejn noble family.
The Mint says about it:
The Pernštejns were at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries one of the most powerful and at the same time one of the richest lineages in the country and always played an important role in the politics of the Kingdom of Bohemia.
The first written mention of the Lords of Pernštejn is from the 13th century in the region of southern Moravia. Their admirable creative energy and determination was soon the cause of big influence on the development of the Kingdom and their exceptional fortune. In eastern Bohemia they had a major impact on the economy and even the landscape - they founded a system of ponds and irrigation ditches, many of which still exist today. The Pernštejns were also renowned for their longevity and fertility. Despite this fact, the male line of the family died out in 1631, followed fifteen years later by the last female member. Their heirs became the Lobkowiczs.
María Manrique de Lara y Mendoza (about 1538 - 16th February 1608), who is depicted on this coin, was a Spanish noblewoman, maid of honour of the future Empress Maria of Spain. She married Vratislav II of Pernstein and bore him 21 children; apart from that, she became famous for the statue, later known as the Infant Jesus of Prague, which she brought to the Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. She gave it as a wedding gift to her daughter Polyxena, who later donated it to the Carmelites in Prague. | 
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