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 Uranus.
The Mint says about it:
Uranus, the namesake of the Greek god of the sky, is twice as far from the Sun as Saturn. Thanks to this distance it was discovered in the 18th century as the first planet since antiquity. Until then, it was mistaken for a star. Uranus receives little light, therefore, it is very cold. The temperature here reaches -214° C. While most planets rotate around their axis almost perpendicular to orbit, the seventh planet in the solar system is tilted to the side. Uranus is a gas giant - like other planets of this type, it consists mainly of hydrogen and helium, and it has many rings and moons. Miranda, whose surface is full of deep canyons, is its most interesting satellite.
The reverse side of the coin was dedicated to a depiction of Uranus in vivid colours, which was achieved using pad printing technology by medal makers Asamat Baltaev, DiS., and Jiří Hanuš, DiS. 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". |
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The obverse of the coin shows in the upper left part the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait"). The Queen wears the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" diamond tiara, a wedding gift from Queen Mary (Her Majesty's grandmother) in 1947 - which she also has on the Machin and the Gottwald portraits.
In tiny letters below the head, the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley).
The rest of the surface shows a view of the Solar System, with planetary orbits, along which eight planets are seen, each marked with its astronomical symbol.
Concentric with these lines, the monarch's legend NIUE ISLAND ELIZABETH II, the date of issue 2020 and the face value 1 DOLLAR.
Below left, the mint mark of the Czech Mint - a crowned monogram of the letters ČM (Česká mincovna). |
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