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 is part of a four coin series by the Czech Mint marking the 700th anniversary of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia (Bohemia later evolved into the modern state of Czechia); it is dedicated to institutions founded by him, and shows the Charles University.
The Mint says about the coin:
Charles IV - the eleventh Czech king, Roman Emperor and King of Germany, Lombardy and Burgundy, margrave of Moravia and count of Luxembourg, whose enlightenment penetrated into a wide range of fields... As a very wise man, he realised the importance of education of the nation across all the social classes and therefore established the first college for the Czechs. The Charles University in Prague, in Latin Universitas Carolina Pragensis, is one of Europe's oldest universities. The establishment of a university in Prague was sought already by the King Václav II in 1294, but it did not succeed until half a century later. The establishment was enabled by Pope Clement VI and was based on the foundation charter of Charles IV on April 7, 1348. Education was provided in the former so-called full form at four faculties: theological, medical, legal and the liberal arts.
In its time, it was the only institution allowing common townsmen and students from rural areas to climb the social ladder, which was for example the case of Jan Hus, who gradually became a teacher, dean and finally rector. The status of Charles University strengthened for centuries and its fame is appreciable till today. |
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In the upper half of the obverse, the coin shows 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. There are no designer's initials below the effigy.
The Queen's legend, ELIZABETH II· NIUE ISLAND is around above left and right. On two lines below left, the face value 5 DOLLARS; below right, the date of issue 2016.
The lower half of the obverse has a decorative geometric pattern, below which the mint mark of the Czech Mint - a crowned monogram of the letters ČM (Česká mincovna). |
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