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 range of "premium bullion coins" featuring famous movie characters and themes, and shows The One Ring from The Lord of the Rings saga, celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings fil.
"The Fellowship of the Ring" was the first part of the successful film series and celebrated its world premiere in December 2001.
The One Ring, which is also known as the "Ring of Power," was one of the most powerful artefacts ever created in Middle Earth - and by far the most dangerous. It was forged by Sauron in the fires of Mount Doom during the Second Age - with the intention of strengthening his own power and exerting control over the other Rings of Power crafted by Celebrimbor and his people. In this way, Sauron sought to gain dominion over the Elves and all the other peoples of Middle Earth. |