Niue has become one of the most prolific issuers of oversized commemorative silver in the Pacific, licensing its sovereignty to coin programs with no domestic monetary purpose whatsoever. This piece — five kilograms of .9999 fine silver at 170mm — was struck by the Polish Mint in Warsaw, which has produced the majority of Niue's large-format papal issues and brings its own institutional interest to the subject: Poland's connection to Karol Wojtyła runs deeper than any other nation's.
John Paul II was canonized April 27, 2014, making this a first-anniversary issue in all but name.
Niue has become one of the most prolific issuers of oversized commemorative silver in the Pacific, licensing its sovereignty to coin programs with no domestic monetary purpose whatsoever. This piece — five kilograms of .9999 fine silver at 170mm — was struck by the Polish Mint in Warsaw, which has produced the majority of Niue's large-format papal issues and brings its own institutional interest to the subject: Poland's connection to Karol Wojtyła runs deeper than any other nation's.
John Paul II was canonized April 27, 2014, making this a first-anniversary issue in all but name.