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 movie characters. Some are also in innovative shapes, such as "Chibi".
Chibi (ちび or チビ) is a Japanese slang word describing something short (a thing, an animal or a person). The term is widely used to describe a specific style of caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way: small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads. Coins of this type look like cartoon characters and have their corresponding shape; they are also very thick for their size.
The Mint says about this coin: Made from 1oz of pure silver, this Chibi Coin features the deadly resurrected ninja, Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat game. The coin has been shaped and coloured to resemble the early version of Scorpion. As a Chibi art version, the focus is on his distinctive yellow tunic and mask, with contrasting black headgear. The Ian Rank Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II can be found on the opposite side to confirm it as a legal tender coin.
The coin is protected by an acrylic capsule, inside a specially designed box with a window for display. This box features an image of Scorpion as he appeared in the original game on the back, as well as all seven original characters on both sides. There is a limited mintage of only 2,000, which is confirmed on the box along with a Certificate of Authenticity and the coin’s unique serial number. |