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, based on the troy ounce - such as the half ounce of silver format (abbreviated as 1/2 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum).
This coin was issued as part of a set of four silver coins featuring the Lords of Kunštát and Poděbrady (Kunstat and Podebrady) noble family and is dedicated to King George of Poděbrady.
The Mint says about it: "In the framework of its long-term educational project "In the Footsteps of Noble Families", the National Heritage Institute declared 2014 as The Year of the Lords of Kunstat. This noble family was chosen because in 2014 we commemorate the 550th anniversary of completion of several related diplomatic missions sent by King George of Podebrady to western royal courts.
The Czech Mint therefore prepared a set of four silver coins denominated 1 NZD which are dedicated to four noted members of the family: Hynek of Kunstat, George of Kunstat and Podebrady, Charles I of Münsterberg and Viktorin of Kunstat and Podebrady.
The lords of Kunstat and Podebrady rank among the most significant noble families which ruled in particular in Moravia. The Kunstat line of the family died out in 1414 and on the basis of a family agreement their property was inherited by the Podebrady branch of the family. This huge fortune strengthened the position of George of Kunstat and Podebrady and it helped him gain a strong position among the Czech Utraquist nobility and, afterwards, in 1458, be elected to the Czech royal throne." |