Silver Ounce 2021 Dog Breeds - Yorkshire Terrier, 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 third issue in the Dog Breeds series of coloured silver coins by the Czech Mint and features the Yorkshire Terrier.

The Mint says about it:
With a height of about twenty centimetres and a weight of three kilograms, the Yorkshire Terrier is one of the smallest dogs in the world. His body is covered with long, silky soft hair that can reach to the ground. It's unbelievable, but this show social dog was originally a working breed that hunted rats and sewer rats in the mines. The ban on breeding large hunting dogs was associated with the fact that subjects in England were banned from hunting since 11th century. That's why the miners in Yorkshire, North England, bred a small companion who could catch not only pests, but occasionally some rabbits.

With the progressive industrialisation of England, rat-catching dogs spread to cities, where they helped in spinning mills, cleaned the streets, and entertained the workers. In the so-called rat pits, they took part in fights in which their task was to bite as many rodents as possible within a given time limit. When professional breeding of dog breeds began to develop at the end of the 19th century, the cute little dog with the big heart of a warrior was noticed by breeders who further reduced its size and lengthened their fur. Yorkshire quickly became a pet of noble ladies.