Silver Ounce 2021 Perseverance Mars Rover, 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 coins under the authority of Niue. Most of these are commemorative and collector issues 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). Those issued at prices much higher than their bullion value are separately listed in the Non-Circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) silver ounce section of the site.

Unlike them, this coin is targeted at bullion investors and was initially released at a price close to the value of its precious metal content.

This design celebrates the 2021 Mars Rover landing.

APMEX says about it:
Mars has fascinated scientists for centuries, and has long been thought capable of supporting life. The Perseverance Rover, part of NASA's Mars 2020 Mission, was sent to explore the Red Planet on July 30, 2020. Its goals, as stated by NASA, are to identify past environments capable of supporting microbial life, seek signs of possible past microbial life in those habitable environments, collect and store core samples, and test oxygen production in the atmosphere. In order to have the best chance of achieving these mission goals, NASA sought to land the rover in Jezero Crater, a crater thought most likely to show these signs as it included inflow and outflow channels as well as an evident delta deposit, all indications that it was at one time a massive lake. On February 18, 2021, confirmation that the rover had successfully landed at this location was received at 20:55 UTC.

The design of the coin seeks to incorporate as many details of the landing as possible for a true symbolic piece to commemorate this feat. The reverse is an image of the rover landing on the surface with the assistance of the rocket-powered descendant stage. This stage was designed to counter the gravitational pull of the landing by creating upward force using jet propulsion. Surrounding the rover is a stylised image of the parachute, which also assisted in the landing. The parachute is unique in that it contained code which was later deciphered by internet users. The words "Dare Mighty Things" as well as the coordinates for the laboratory where the rover was designed are seen on the parachute and coin. The obverse features a clock set to the time confirmation of the landing was received. It also features symbols of the development of life on earth, which, like the parachute, were secretly included on the mission. These are included around the edge of the camera on the rover itself.

This release marks the first exclusive developed in collaboration with The Pressburg Mint. The Pressburg Mint, also named Bratislavska Mincovna, is based in Bratislava, Slovakia and revives the centuries-old minting tradition of the country. The mint strives to produce bullion and Prooflike product of the highest quality and is known for its ever-evolving yearly releases, namely the Terra, Vivat, Chronos and ICON programs.