Niue has operated as a licensing vehicle for commemorative silver issues since the 1990s, contracting with the New Zealand Mint and others to produce collector pieces that bear the island's legal tender status while targeting an entirely external market. The Bambi issue is part of Disney's long-running agreement to place its intellectual property on bullion and proof coinage — an arrangement that has generated dozens of nearly indistinguishable 1-troy-ounce silver rounds dressed as legal tender from small Pacific and Caribbean jurisdictions.
Actual circulation in Niue, population roughly 1,600, was never the intent.
Niue has operated as a licensing vehicle for commemorative silver issues since the 1990s, contracting with the New Zealand Mint and others to produce collector pieces that bear the island's legal tender status while targeting an entirely external market. The Bambi issue is part of Disney's long-running agreement to place its intellectual property on bullion and proof coinage — an arrangement that has generated dozens of nearly indistinguishable 1-troy-ounce silver rounds dressed as legal tender from small Pacific and Caribbean jurisdictions.
Actual circulation in Niue, population roughly 1,600, was never the intent.