Niue: Coins Issued and Used

Niue, a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, uses two official legal tender currencies. While they use the New Zealand dollar, the government also issues legal tender coins using the Niue dollar for collector's purposes.

Before the creation of the New Zealand dollar, Niue was a user of the pound sterling and the very early commemorative coins of Niue were in pound or shilling increments.

Niue first began issuing coins in 1966. These have been mostly bullion and non-circulating base metal commemorative issues. They are acceptable as legal tender within Niue, though unlikely to be found anywhere on the island.

In 2009, Niue began issuing its first standardized coin set in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 cent and 1 Dollar; they are thicker than New Zealand coins as well as having a different metallic composition. They are also of the same exact size and composition as the Pitcairn Islands special coin set.

All of the standard set coins bear images relevant to the country, surrounded by a distinct border.

All coins of Niue depict on the obverse the national crest or an official effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.

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 made using "smartminting" techniques and have features not generally found in circulation coins - e.g. high relief, full colour printing and/or different forms, including fully three dimensional (3D).