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 silver coin is part of the Universal Gods series by the Czech Mint, and is dedicated to Osiris.
The mint says about it:
Osiris, who is also known as Usir or Usirev, was a diverse god. He first initiated the ancient Egyptians, who suffered from hunger and poverty, into the secrets of agriculture and crafts. The people, whom he made the most advanced nation in the world, in turn worshipped him as a god of fertility. But the jealous god Set (Sutekh), who ruled only the dry and barren deserts, could not reconcile himself to his brother's popularity and cunningly murdered him. He cut his body into countless pieces, which he scattered all over Egypt. That would have been the end of Osiris without the loving goddess Isis. She travelled to the farthest corners of the earth, collected all the pieces of her husband's body, and eventually - with the help of the god Anubis - revived him long enough to father a son, Horus, to avenge his father's death.
Osiris then became the ruler of the underworld, where he weighs the hearts of the dead and decides whether they have the right to live eternal life. Osiris was the very first mummy in history, which greatly influenced his portrayal in art. He is often depicted embalmed and, unlike other Egyptian gods, has no animal features. |
| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin shows the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait"). 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.
In small letters below the head, the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley).
Around the effigy is the monarch's legend, the date of issue and the value: NIUE ISLAND 10 DOLLARS ELIZABETH II 2022.
On the right, the precious metal content: Ag 999 · 5 oz (five troy ounces of 99.9% silver; Ag is abbreviated from Argentum, the Latin word for silver).
Below the 10 of 10 DOLLARS, the mint mark of the Czech Mint - a crowned monogram of the letters ČM (Česká mincovna), and the monogram of the obverse designer Asamat Baltaev.
The rim features decorative ornaments of Greek, Norse, Slavic, Celtic and Egyptian origin. The obverse side is common to this year's editions of the series. |
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| Reverse | |
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The reverse design depicts Osiris as a man wrapped in bandages, holding a number of royal artefacts - a crown with a sacred cobra, a false beard, a crook and flail. The composition of the reverse side of the coin is supplemented with elaborated Egyptian symbolism - the relief includes a pyramid, canopies, a scarab and a series of hieroglyphs that tell the story of Osiris to connoisseurs of Egyptian writing. The decorative Egyptian motifs can also be found on the obverse side of the coin.
The dk monogram of the reverse designer David Kružliak is behind a bird in the writing above right.
In the background, interrupted by the figure of the god, the inscription OSIRIS. |
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