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 Seven Wonders of the Ancient World series by the Czech Mint, and depicts the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
The mint says about it:
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus - the centre of the cult of the goddess of hunting and fertility, located on the coast of Asia Minor - was the largest of the ancient Greek temples. It served not only for religious purposes, but also as a place for trade, meetings, festivals and sports games. The magnificent marble sanctuary, decorated with precious gems, precious metals and numerous works of art, became the benchmark of Ionian architecture, but was unfortunately consumed by flames in 356 BC. This was the fault of a mad arsonist who wanted to go down in history forever with this barbaric act. To prevent anyone from trying to imitate him, it was forbidden to mention his name under penalty of death. But the historian Theopompos disobeyed, recorded the cursed name, and Hérostratos became as world-famous as he wished... |
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The obverse of the coin shows at its centre 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.
In small letters below the head, the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley).
The effigy is smaller than usual and is surrounded by a wide rim divided by depictions of Greek columns into eight sectors. Seven of these depict the seven wonders of the ancient world: the Egyptian pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse on the island of Pharos. In the eighth sector below, on five lines the monarch's legend, face value and date of issue: NIUE ISLAND 5 DOLLARS ELIZABETH II 2022.
Near the rim below left, the mint mark of the Czech Mint - a crowned monogram of the letters ČM (Česká mincovna). |
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