The Republic of Palau is an island country in the western Pacific, in free association with the United States. In one way or another, the country has been under US administration since it was established, and has never had its own separate currency - it has always used the US Dollar. However, Palau allows some foreign mints to issue coins under its authority; these are denominated in US Dollars but are only legal tender in Palau, so can in a way be considered to be in "Palau Dollars", even though such a currency does not officially exist.
The coins are usually dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to the country itself. Many of them are in the internationally popular half gram (0.5g) of gold collector format.
The Ace of Spades coin is part of the large Golden Highlights series of specially shaped gold mini-coins by CIT Coin Invest.
The mint says about it: In numerous cultures, the ace of spades associates with imminent death, misfortune, disaster, hatred and war. People began commonly referring to the Ace of Spades as the Death Card after the Vietnam War. Before this abhorrent conflict, the French occupied the Indo-China region and brought with them the custom of fortune telling. In this tradition, an Ace of Spades indicates bad luck or death in one’s future. As a result, US troops in the Vietnam War realised that superstitious Vietnamese would retreat in horror at the mere sight of the card. Thus, they used the Ace of Spades to instil fear among their enemies.
On a lighter note, pioneering hard rock group Motörhead picks up on the gamblers’ superstition about this card in their famous song The Ace of Spades."
The coin is shaped like a playing card. Like all other gold half grams in the special shapes series, the date of issue is not written on the coin. |