Silver Five Ounces 2021 Parrots of Australia, 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. 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 as a special edition for the World Money Fair Berlin 2021, and is dedicated to the colourful inhabitants of Australia - parrots. The Parrots of Australia coin is struck from 5 ounces of 99.9% silver and features a large, salmon-coloured cockatoo with its characteristic hood in the foreground. It is surrounded by smaller species of parrots, also depicted in colour, perched on branches or in tree cavities. Other birds in flight have been engraved in the background. The obverse shows the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as well as the weight, fineness, denomination and year of issue. As of today, 53 species of parrots are known to be native to Australia. Parrots are as intelligent as corvids. For example, they can mimic our language, "eat by hand in a civilised manner", and are exceptionally lively and sociable animals. Although for these reasons it seems understandable that people like parrots to be kept in cages as pets, the animals belong in their natural and species-appropriate habitat - the native rainforests or savannas - as depicted on this coin.