Silver Ounce 2010 Lycaena Virgaureae Butterfly, 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 - typically, one ounce of silver (abbreviated as 1 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum). Many of these feature various animals.

This coin is part of a series by the Mint of Poland dedicated to butterflies, and depicts a Lycaena Virgaureae butterfly.

Know as the "scarce copper" butterfly, Lycaena virgaureae is of the family Lycaenidae (copper or gossamer-winged butterflies). The lower surfaces of the back wings are yellowish and have only a few black dots; there are characteristic white marks the immediate vicinity of these. The species exhibits one kind of sexual dimorphism: male butterflies are coloured bright gold-red on the upper side of wing, while the females have broader orange wings with a dark design.

The Mint says about the coin:
"Another issue in the captivating Butterflies series of silver coins bears the title “Scarce Copper” and is dedicated to one of the most strikingly coloured butterflies found in in the Alps, Pyrenees and other mountain ranges. This gorgeous bright butterfly is notable for burning red-orange coloration framed by jet black margins which extend slightly along the veins. Besides, the male and female scarce coppers are very different on the upper side but similar on the underside. Thanks to the pad printing technique the image on the coin displays the genuine colours of the butterfly. To the right of the image, there is the inscription denoting the Latin name of the insect."