Issued under a licensing arrangement between the New Zealand Mint and Lucasfilm, this piece appeared fourteen years after Darth Maul's film debut in The Phantom Menace — well into the period when the prequel trilogy's merchandise had shifted from mass retail novelty to targeted collector product. The New Zealand Mint, a privately operated facility unaffiliated with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, has issued legal tender coinage for a number of Pacific island nations and territories under official agreements, giving pop-culture strikes like this genuine monetary status despite no realistic prospect of circulation.
Issued under a licensing arrangement between the New Zealand Mint and Lucasfilm, this piece appeared fourteen years after Darth Maul's film debut in The Phantom Menace — well into the period when the prequel trilogy's merchandise had shifted from mass retail novelty to targeted collector product. The New Zealand Mint, a privately operated facility unaffiliated with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, has issued legal tender coinage for a number of Pacific island nations and territories under official agreements, giving pop-culture strikes like this genuine monetary status despite no realistic prospect of circulation.