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, bullion and collector coins under the authority of Niue. These coins are dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to Niue itself.
Some coins are marketed in standard bullion sizes, like half ounce silver, one ounce silver etc, and some of those are also denominated as $1, for which see respective lists. This coin, denominated as One Niue Dollar, is not in a standard ounce-based size and is made using a "smartminting" technique - meaning that it has features not generally found in circulation coins.
This coin is part of a series of coins dedicated to the famous Fabergé eggs, and depicts the Peacock Egg.
A Fabergé egg (Russian: Яйца Фаберже́) is a jewelled egg created by the House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire. Possibly as many as sixty-nine were created, of which fifty-seven survive today. Virtually all were manufactured under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé between 1885 and 1917, the most famous being the fifty-two "Imperial" eggs, forty-six of which survive, made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. Thanks to the exuberance, intricacy and splendour of decoration, Fabergé Eggs have gained a huge popularity as jewellery masterpieces.
The Peacock egg was made by Russian jeweller Dorofeiev under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé in 1908. It was made for Nicholas II of Russia, who presented the Fabergé egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, in 1908. The transparent egg is composed of rock crystal and gilt silver wire, and is quite simple in style. The genius of the egg lay in its surprise. The egg is held together by a clasp at the top, and when opened, falls into two halves, each with a rococo style mount. Inside the egg sits a small 110 millimetres long mechanical gold and enamelled peacock in the branches of an engraved gold tree with flowers made of enamel and precious stones. The peacock can be lifted from within the tree and wound up. Placed on a flat surface, it struts around, moving its head and spreads and closes his enamel tail. |
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The obverse of the coin depicts the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait", by Ian Rank-Broadley). 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. The designer's initials are not shown.
Below the neck truncation and over the I of ELIZABETH, the small MW mint mark of the Mint of Poland (m over W), for Mennica Warszawska (Mint of Warsaw).
The effigy is small and is in the upper half of the design, surrounded by a decorative neo-rococo scroll ornament. Horizontally below, ELIZABETH II. Around above, the rest of the legend: NIUE ISLAND.
The lower half of the design shows an open Fabergé egg with a basket of flowers inside (the "Spring Flowers" egg).
Around left, facing outward, the face value and denomination: 1 DOLLAR. Around right, similarly facing out, the date of issue 2017.
Around below right, the hallmark Ag 999 (99.9% silver; "Ag" is abbreviated from Argentum, the Latin word for silver, and is internationally used to mark silver coins and jewellery). |
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