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1 Dollar - Elizabeth II Year of the Rat: Lucky
| Issuer | Niue |
|---|---|
| Year | 2008 |
| Type | Collector coin |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, depicting the fourth definitive portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley, showing the Queen diademed and with hair elaborately styled. The legend ELIZABETH II arcs across the upper field, with NIUE ISLAND to the right, and 1 DOLLAR at the base, all within a beaded border. The engraver's initials IRB appear below the truncation of the neck. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse features a full-color photographic image occupying the right portion of the die, depicting a white rat amid a cluster of mandarin oranges against a red background, symbolizing good fortune in Chinese tradition. The Chinese character 鼠 (Rat) appears at the upper center of the colored panel, with the legend YEAR OF THE RAT arcing along the upper right. To the left of the colored panel, on a milled silver field, the issue year 2008 is prominently displayed above a column listing previous Years of the Rat: 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, and 1948. At the base, the word LUCKY is inscribed in bold lettering flanked by decorative gilt floral motifs, with the fineness and weight notation Ag .999 1oz below. |
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| Additional information |
Niue has operated as a prolific licensing hub for commemorative coinage since the 1990s, issuing coins that circulate as legal tender under New Zealand's monetary umbrella despite the island's population hovering around 1,500. This Lunar Series piece was produced for the export collector market, not domestic use — no one on Niue was spending silver dollars in 2008.
The Year of the Rat opens each 12-year zodiac cycle, and 2008 coincided with the Beijing Olympics, which drove unusually high demand for Rat-year issues across multiple mints globally.