One Dollar Silver 2018 Fabergé - Catherine the Great Egg, Coin from Niue - detailed information

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 Catherine the Great 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 Catherine the Great egg was an Easter 1914 gift for Tsarina Maria Feodorovna from her son Tsar Nicholas II, who had a standing order of two Easter eggs every year, one for his mother and one for his wife. The egg was made by Henrik Wigström, "Fabergé's last head workmaster". It id in gold and diamonds on a claw-foot stand features pink enamel panels painted in cameo style with miniature allegorical scenes of the arts and sciences based on French artist François Boucher. Its Easter 1914 counterpart (presented to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna) is the .