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 - for example, two ounces of silver (abbreviated as 2 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum).
The Mint says about this coin: "In Ancient Egypt, the scarab (scarabeus) beetle was seen as the epitome of divinity. As a symbol of rebirth, it was believed to illustrate the Sun’s heavenly path across the sky and its daily self-renewal
Produced from precious metals and gemstones, these beautifully crafted sacred beetles were popular talismans, often used as currency. Today, the scarab-shaped amulets are excavated in the countries that once had commercial relations with Ancient Egypt." |