5 Cents - Elizabeth II Encrinus Liliiformis

Encrinus liliiformis is a Triassic crinoid species whose fossils appear with unusual frequency in the Muschelkalk limestone deposits of central Europe — so commonly, in fact, that the geological layer itself was informally named after it. Niue has used its status as a Commonwealth realm with independent minting authority to issue a long-running series of coins incorporating actual meteorite fragments, a niche that a handful of Pacific micro-states have quietly dominated since the early 2000s.

The meteorite material embedded in this piece is not decorative coating — it is a physical inclusion of extraterrestrial iron in the flan itself.