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50 Dollars - Elizabeth II Copernicus
| Issuer | Niue |
|---|---|
| Year | 2015 |
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| Value | 50 Dollars |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | 2015 ELIZABETH II NIUE FIFTY DOLLARS |
| Reverse description | At center, a reproduction of the celebrated portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus from the Town Hall in Toruń, Poland, is set against a facsimile background of the manuscript of 'De revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium,' with handwritten astronomical notations visible in the field. Adjacent to the portrait, a spray of lilies of the valley — a medieval symbol of medicine and science frequently associated with Copernican iconography — appears in relief. Below the portrait, Copernicus's signature is inscribed alongside a numeral commemorating the years elapsed since the formulation of the heliocentric theory. To the left, a schematic of the heliocentric system centers on an astronomical sun symbol encircled by the symbols of Earth and Moon; to the right, the facade of the Copernicus house is depicted. Planets within the solar system diagram are individually set with multicolored Swarovski crystals, and the fineness inscription '500 Ag999.9' appears in the field. |
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| Additional information |
This piece belongs to a broader wave of large-format silver issues produced under Niue's licensing arrangements — the island nation has issued commemorative coinage under its authority since the 1970s, functioning effectively as a mint-access vehicle for foreign distributors. Nicolaus Copernicus published his heliocentric model in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543, the same year he died, reportedly receiving a printed copy only hours before his death.
The 26 Swarovski crystals are set to represent celestial bodies in the heliocentric model — a detail that places this firmly in the collector novelty category rather than the numismatic one.