Tokelau's trimetallic dollar series occupies an unusual corner of the Pacific commemorative market — the territory issues coins through New Zealand's authority but holds no domestic currency of its own, making every piece a collector artifact from the moment of minting. The plastic middle ring, a manufacturing technique pioneered for high-security circulation coinage in the late 1990s, is here deployed purely for visual effect.
KM#256 is one of twelve annual lunar issues in this format, each assigned to a year in the Chinese zodiac cycle that began in 2012.
Tokelau's trimetallic dollar series occupies an unusual corner of the Pacific commemorative market — the territory issues coins through New Zealand's authority but holds no domestic currency of its own, making every piece a collector artifact from the moment of minting. The plastic middle ring, a manufacturing technique pioneered for high-security circulation coinage in the late 1990s, is here deployed purely for visual effect.
KM#256 is one of twelve annual lunar issues in this format, each assigned to a year in the Chinese zodiac cycle that began in 2012.