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:
History tells us that the tomb of Tutankhamun could have remained undiscovered. He actually did not receive much attention as a ruler, because his personality was less popular than those of his successors. Nevertheless, some historians believed that the tomb of Tutankhamun would someday be discovered and that many secrets would be revealed. It was believed for a long time that all tombs of pharaohs and rulers in the Valley of the Kings had been discovered until something unusual happened. The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922 thanks to a dedicated archaeologist, Howard Carter, whose investigations were financed at that time by Lord Carnarvon. It must be noted, however, that after six years of unsuccessful investigations, the archaeologist was about to terminate his mission. But then he finally managed to make his dream come true. During his search for the tomb of Tutankhamun, Carter found a stair under workers' facilities, and, after he opened the door, he discovered something that the Valley of the Kings had concealed for more than 3,000 years - the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun.
The reason for the many unsuccessful attempts to find the tomb of Tutankhamun may be the fact that the ruler died unexpectedly. Despite the construction of a huge royal tomb for him being in progress, the pharaoh was buried in a much smaller tomb that was intended for somebody else. Luckily, the tomb was further away from the tombs of other rulers - under facilities intended for workers. So unlike all the other tombs, this tomb had not been plundered. The world was amazed by what was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The pharaoh was buried in three layers of coffin. The internal part of the three layers was made of gold, and the external part was of made of wood. Approximately 5,000 artefacts were found in the tomb, which encouraged the subsequent study of the history of ancient Egypt by many researchers. The most important discovery was the pharaoh's death mask, made of gold with precious stones, which weighed more than 10 kilograms.
We have created the Egyptian Coffins/King Tut's Curse coin in order to tell this unique story. The coin portrays the pharaoh and his impressive tomb with all three layers. The most advanced coin minting technologies-high relief, UV printing, and aged silver - have been used to produce the coin. |
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The obverse of the coin features the (unofficial) "Public Seal of Niue". It has what looks like a plant arrangement at centre, within a double ornamental circle, itself surrounded by a circle of sea shells. This is crowned with St Edward's Crown (a symbol of the United Kingdom, the monarch of which is ultimately the Head of State of Niue).
Around above between the two, the inscription PUBLIC SEAL OF NIUE. Below that, a ribbon carries the motto ATUA NIUE TUKULAGI on two lines, below which two crossed katoua (Niue fighting clubs).
Around above, the face value FIVE DOLLARS. The date of issue 2022 is around below.
Around right, the hallmark Ag 999 (99.9% silver). |
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