Silver Ounce 2022 Koala, 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 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 various animals.

This silver coin in proof quality is struck from one ounce of 99.9% pure silver and is dedicated to the Koala, which together with the kangaroo is one of the most famous representatives of Australian fauna and is considered one of the most popular symbols of Australia. The design depicts an adult koala climbing a branch while carrying her baby on its back.

Koala babies are called "Joeys" and are just about the size of a jelly bean when they come into the world. Immediately after birth, they crawl into their mother's pouch and stay there for six months. After this time, they can see and are able to move around on their own. Slowly, the young animals begin to explore the world - but they always stay close to the mother and are often carried on her back. Koalas live in a stable social system in which each animal has its own territory with fixed feeding and sleeping trees. They feed exclusively on the leaves of the eucalyptus tree, which are poisonous to other animals. The ability to digest poisonous substances is accompanied by a very sluggish metabolism - thus koalas sleep up to 20 hours a day.