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 the fourth issue in the Endangered Species series by the New Zealand Mint and features the Pygmy Hippopotamus.
The Mint says about it:
"The Pygmy Hippopotamus Choeropsis Liberiensis is native to the forests and swamps of West Africa.
A smaller cousin of the Hippopotamus, the Pygmy Hippo is only half as tall and weighs less than one quarter of its weight. Adult Pygmy Hippos may grow up to 80 cm in height, and are believed to have diverged from the common Hippo over 10 million years ago. Like its larger cousin, the Pygmy Hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, relying on water to keep its body temperature stable and its skin moisturised.
Pygmy Hippos are nocturnal and reclusive by nature. While some live as pairs, individual male Hippos are also known to wander between territories inhabited by females. Surprisingly, these animals are not aggressive when they meet, tending to simply ignore one another instead.
The Pygmy Hippo is herbivorous, feeding on ferns, broad-leaved plants, grasses and fruits. Most of their time is spent in swamps and near rivers, in order to be near stable sources of food. It has been estimated that fewer than 3,000 Pygmy Hippos now remain in the wild. These may be primarily found in Liberia, with small populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. Deforestation and periods of conflict over the past decades, has led to a loss of habitat for this unique animal. Alongside this, illegal poaching continues to take place throughout Liberia." | 
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