2 Dollars - Elizabeth II Saint John's Eve

Niue has operated as a reliable vehicle for New Zealand-backed commemorative issues since the 1990s, licensing its sovereignty to mint programs that would otherwise lack an issuing authority. This particular piece targets the European midsummer folk tradition of Saint John's Eve — the night before the feast of John the Baptist on June 24th — long associated in Slavic and Scandinavian cultures with bonfires, divination, and the mythologized blooming of the fern flower.

At 0.5 g of .9999 fine gold, the striking tolerances are unforgiving; dies for issues this small leave almost no margin for feed or alignment error.