Silver Ounce 2021 Dog Breeds - German Shepherd, 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 the first issue in the Dog Breeds series of coloured silver coins by the Czech Mint and features the German Shepherd.

The Mint says about it:
The twelve-part series of silver coins of the Czech Mint is dedicated to the most popular dog breeds. The first issue belongs to the German shepherd. The breeding of various sheepdogs has a long and rich tradition in Germany. There was a law that severely punished their killing in the 6th century. No wonder - they protected humans from dangerous predators such as bears and lynx.

Human society changed from agricultural to industrial over the centuries, and sheep dogs seemed to be less popular. However, the breed with the prosaic name "German shepherd", which was bred in the 19th century, gained a completely new usage thanks to its useful properties. Fearless, faithful, intelligent, easy to handle, undemanding and adaptable dogs have found a home at the police or in the army. It is not without interest that during the First World War, German shepherds were used to take wounded soldiers off the battlefield, which then led to the training of the first guide dogs.