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 characters and themes from popular culture.
This coin is the first release in the Harry Potter Magical Creatures series, and features the Thestral.
The mint says about it: Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels by J.K. Rowling following the life of young wizard Harry and his friends as they navigate the wizarding world and the rising evil of Lord Voldemort. Crucial to the plot of the series are the magical creatures who aid Harry in his journey.
Thestrals are magical creatures that outwardly resemble both a horse and a reptile. Their bodies are completely black and appear skeletal, while their eyes are white, fixed and pupil-less and their black wings look like over-sized bat wings. Thestrals are often wrongly perceived as an omen of misfortune, as they are only visible to people who have already seen death. In fact, Thestrals are clever, social and loyal creatures that can tell friend from foe. At Hogwarts, trained Thestrals are used to transport students from Hogsmeade station to the school building in carriages. |