Silver Five Ounces 2021 The Great Lunar Race, 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).

According to Chinese mythology, there was a big race that decided which animals were part of the zodiac and in which order. To finish the race and become one of the 12 animals in the calendar, the animals had to cross a river. This gilded coin struck from 5 ounces of 99.9% silver is dedicated to this "Great Lunar Race".

There are many varieties of the lunar animals origin story. Some say that the Jade Emperor called a race of animals on his birthday to create the Chinese Zodiac. Others say that it was the Buddha who called the race. Both stories are similar with minor variations. Twelve animals were to become symbols of the Chinese Zodiac and in order to secure their place, would race across a rapidly flowing river.

Although the worst swimmer, the rat was very smart. The ox had agreed to carry the rat across the river on its back, but as they reached the shore, the rat jumped off the ox and finished first. The ox was second, with the tiger in third. The Rabbit hopped from one stone to another and was doing well until he slipped. Fortunately, he grabbed onto a log and finished in fourth place. In fifth place came the dragon, who would been first but had stopped to help some villagers. On its way to the finish line the dragon saw the rabbit on the log and gave a puff of air to help it to shore. The horse looked set to finish sixth, but the snake slithered out of the long grass, scared the horse, and took sixth place instead.

The monkey, rooster and sheep found a raft and, working together, paddled through the strong currents and the weeds until they reached the shore. The sheep came in eighth place, the monkey in ninth, and the rooster in tenth. The dog had been too busy splashing in the fresh water, and finished in eleventh place. The pig was the last animal to cross the line as it had stopped to eat and fallen asleep. Thus it was decided which animals would form the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac, and in what order.