Silver Ounce 2020 Solar System - Mars, 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).

This coin is part of the Solar System series of coloured proofs and features the planet Mars.

The Mint says about it:
The Czech Mint dedicated another silver coin from the Solar System cycle to the planet Mars. Mars is similar to Earth in many ways, therefore, seems to be the best candidate for the so-called terraformation - a hypothetical process that would make the planet habitable for humanity. Its day is almost as long as the earth's, it has seasons, polar ice caps and a thin atmosphere. However, potential colonists would have to deal with a number of problems. The temperature on the surface of Mars fluctuates significantly during the year - its orbit is very elliptical, so its distance from the Sun is variable. Moreover, Mars has only a residual magnetic field, so nothing protects it from radiation...

The surface of the "red planet" with giant canyons and volcanoes is reddish, due to the iron oxides contained in the soil. Two tiny moons, called Phobos and Deimos - Terror and Horror, orbit Mars, which is named after the Roman god of war.

Medal makers Asamat Baltaev, DiS., and Jiří Hanuš, DiS. dedicated the reverse side of the coin to depiction of Mars in vivid colours thanks to pad printing technology. Photographs or computer graphics were not used as a template for colouring - the medal makers created original watercolour paintings. The obverse side of the coin, designed by Asamat Baltaev, is dedicated to the depiction of the entire solar system and presents astronomical symbols of individual planets.

The coin surface is characterised by a special treatment - a combination of proofing, sandblasting and laser treatment of the dies resulted in a new effect, which we called "moon dust".