Niue's arrangement with the New Zealand Treasury allows it to issue legal tender coins with essentially no monetary function — a framework that has made the island one of the most prolific novelty bullion issuers of the 21st century. This swan piece is part of a long-running series produced by the Czech Mint, which supplies the embedded Bohemian crystal elements from Jablonec nad Nisou, a town whose glass and costume jewellery industry dates to the 17th century and survived both Nazi occupation and Soviet collectivization largely intact.
Niue's arrangement with the New Zealand Treasury allows it to issue legal tender coins with essentially no monetary function — a framework that has made the island one of the most prolific novelty bullion issuers of the 21st century. This swan piece is part of a long-running series produced by the Czech Mint, which supplies the embedded Bohemian crystal elements from Jablonec nad Nisou, a town whose glass and costume jewellery industry dates to the 17th century and survived both Nazi occupation and Soviet collectivization largely intact.