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. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes - including this very large five ounces of silver format (abbreviated as 5 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum).
this coin was issued to mark the Chinese 2014 Year of the Horse - in the Chinese Zodiac Calendar it was between 31 January 2014 and 18 February 2015.
According to the ancient Chinese zodiac, human character is interpreted not by the month, but rather by the lunar year of birth.This zodiac is represented by one of twelve animals. Legend has it, that one day Buddha summoned all animals, but only twelve answered his call: a rat appeared first, followed by a buffalo, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and finally a pig. |
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The obverse of the coin shows the crowned bust of Queen Elizabeth II, facing right (her effigy by Raphael David Maklouf known as the "Third Portrait"). The Queen is wearing the royal diadem which she used to wear on her way to and from the State Opening of Parliament, a pearl necklace and earrings.
Normally, the designer's initials are on the neck truncation; however, they are not displayed here.
Around above, the monarch's legend, the date of issue and the face value: ELIZABETH II · NIUE 2014 · 8 DOLLARS. Around below, the precious metal content: · 5 OZ 999 SILVER · (five troy ounces of 99.9% silver). |
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