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 coin is part of a New Zealand Mint collection of "premium bullion coins" featuring movie characters and themes, and is the first of a series dedicated to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The coin's theme is The Black Pearl, the ship from "The Curse of the Black Pearl" - the first episode in the franchise, released in 2003.
The legendary pirate Jack Sparrow is portrayed in the film by Johnny Depp. With his very eccentric, witty and somewhat oddball manner, the pirate quickly became an audience favourite. The Black Pearl, which is considered the fastest ship in the entire Caribbean, once belonged to Jack Sparrow - until Barbossa took over the ship after a mutiny. The successful film series is about, among other things, the pirate Sparrow's attempt to recapture his ship - an undertaking marked by numerous obstacles and dangers. |