5 Dollars - Charles III Taizong of Tang

This piece belongs to a series pairing the accession of Charles III with historical rulers from other civilizations — a format Niue has used repeatedly to market commemoratives to overlapping collector bases. Taizong, who ruled the Tang dynasty from 626 to 649 AD, came to power through the Xuanwu Gate Incident, in which he orchestrated the killing of his own brothers before pressuring his father Gaozu to abdicate. His reign is nonetheless considered one of the high points of Chinese imperial governance, with the Zhenguan period cited by later dynasties as a model of Confucian administration.