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).
This coin is the first release in the Solar System series of coloured proofs and features the Sun.
The Mint says about it: The universe is infinite as well as human curiosity. The Czech Mint combines both of these forces in a new collection called the Solar System. The Sun as the first heavenly body appears on a silver coin embellished with colour.
The sun is the centre of the solar system, which is held together by its gravity. Eight planets, accompanied by a number of smaller objects orbit it. It is not a solid, but a glowing gas ball. It consists mainly of hydrogen like other stars. It serves as fuel in a thermonuclear reaction that releases energy in the form of light, heat and other radiation. The sun is the only solar system body that shines with its own light, and the Earth would be cold, dark and lifeless without it. Sunlight travels to Earth for 8 minutes, the light of the next nearest star then travels 4 years and 3 months.
The reverse side of the coin made by the artist duo Asamat Baltaev, DiS., and Jiří Hanuš, DiS., is dominated by the colourful depiction of the life-giving star. The orbits of the nearest planets together with the inscription SOL - the Latin name for the Sun - are visible in the surrounding relief. The obverse side of the coin (designed by Asamat Baltaev) depicts the entire solar system and presents the astronomical symbols of each planet. |