Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Dollars - Elizabeth II Steamboat Willie
| Issuer | Niue |
|---|---|
| Year | 2014-2020 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 31.135 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Right-facing effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, rendered in high relief after the fourth definitive portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley, whose initials IRB appear below the truncation. The legend ELIZABETH II is inscribed along the left arc and NIUE TWO DOLLARS along the right arc, with the date 2014 positioned in the lower exergual area. The portrait is finely detailed, showing the Queen's pearl earring and necklace, set against a polished mirror field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central depiction of Mickey Mouse as he appears in the 1928 Walt Disney animated short film Steamboat Willie, shown standing confidently at the ship's helm on a wooden deck, gripping a large ship's wheel to the left while a life preserver ring is visible to the right. The background features a stylized river landscape with clouds and water rendered in a vintage cartoon aesthetic faithful to the original black-and-white animation. The arched legend STEAMBOAT WILLIE and the year 1928 appear in period-style lettering across the upper field. The inscription 1oz 999 Fine Silver is engraved along the lower left, and the copyright mark © Disney appears in the lower right field. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Niue has operated as a licensing vehicle for the New Zealand Mint since the 1990s, issuing legal tender coins that bear its name but are designed, struck, and marketed entirely outside the island. The Steamboat Willie series exploits a long-running legal ambiguity: the 1928 animated short entered the public domain in the United States only in January 2024, meaning these coins were sold throughout their entire mintage window while the underlying image remained under Disney copyright — protected in the U.S. but navigable under the laws governing the issuing territory.