1oz Silver Niue Lunar Rat (2020)

Niue, a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, uses two official legal tender currencies. The New Zealand Dollar is the circulation currency for daily transactions, while the government also authorises legal tender coins in the Niue Dollar currency for collector's purposes.

A number of mints issue a large variety of coins under the authority of Niue. Most of these are commemorative and collector issues dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to Niue itself. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes - typically, one ounce of silver (abbreviated as 1 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum). Those issued at prices much higher than their bullion value are separately listed in the Non-Circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) silver ounce section of the site.

Unlike them, this coin is targeted at bullion investors and was initially released at a price close to the value of its precious metal content.

This coin is part of a New Zealand Mint series of 1oz silver bullion coins and is dedicated to the 2020 Chinese Lunar Year of the Rat.

The Mint says about it: "The 1oz Silver Year of the Rat Coin - Niue 2020 features a rat in polished relief. The image is softened by decorative motifs. The Chinese character for "rat" is also included on the coin reverse along with and the metal weight and quality. This coin is all the more significant as 2020 is the year of the Metal Rat."