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 is the twelfth and final design in the Mythical Creatures series of premium bullion coins by the Czech Mint, and features the Egyptian Scarab.
The mint says about it: "The scarabeus appears on the last gold coin of the Czech Mint from the twelve-part collector's series Mythical Creatures. A sacred Egyptian beetle called the scarabeus is known for rolling a ball in front of itself in which its offspring develop. Its relentless activity is reminiscent of the sun's pilgrimage across the sky, and so it has become a symbol of the god Re and the solar cycle.
For the ancient Egyptians, it was the personification of rebirth, believing that all scarabs were female and that all they needed to create new life was decaying droppings... The various representations of the scarab are among the most common archaeological finds, demonstrating its importance in ancient society. Necklaces or rings with motifs of the beetle brought wealth, luck and protection from evil to their wearers. Scarab statuettes accompanied mummies to the afterlife."
The reverse of the coin was designed by Mária Filová, and the obverse by Asamat Baltaev. |