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 the four coin Lords of Žerotín noble family set by the Czech Mint and is dedicated to Elizabeth Juliana of Žerotín.
The Mint says about it: Elizabeth Juliana of Žerotín (approximately 1630-1669) faced many tragedies. She gave to Přemyslav III of Žerotín four descendants, but they all died as babies. The husband tried to distract her sadness and built many impressive buildings around the castle in Great Losiny, which they inhabited. Juliana herself died very young and before her death she wanted her heart to be buried with the remains of her little boy. He was buried in the monastery church in Šumperk, which burnt down. Therefore, Přemysl kept her heart in a repository, from which it later disappeared and was reportedly used for magical rituals. A subsequent Witch Trial thus became the subject of the famous book and equally famous film The Hammer of Witches. |