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Tuesday, 30 April 2019

987) Video Game "TETRIS", Niue Island: A new colourful $2 Silver coin issued by the New Zealand Mint, on behalf of Niue Island, commemorating the 35th Anniversary of this popular Video Game, which will be celebrated world-wide on 06.06.2019: Coin issue date: 15.04.2019:

987) Video Game "TETRIS",  Niue Island: A new colourful $2 Silver coin issued by  the New Zealand Mint, on behalf of Niue Island,  commemorating the 35th Anniversary of this popular Video Game, which will be celebrated world-wide on 06.06.2019: Coin issue date: 15.04.2019:

The Government & Treasury of Niue Island has issued a new  Silver $2 Collector Coin on 15.04.2019, which celebrates the 35th Anniversary of the original release of an electronic game which took the world by storm - TETRIS.

About TETRIS:

In 1984, Tetris was originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov, who was a Soviet Computer Specialist, while he was working for the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the Soviet Union in Moscow. The game was inspired by Pajitnov's favourite puzzle board game - Pentominos. He created an electronic game that let players arrange puzzle pieces in real time, as they fell from the top of the playing field.

The game's name was derived from the Greek numerical prefix - "tetra" or "tessara" (meaning "four"), as all of the game's pieces contain four segments and are based on the game of tennis - Pajitnov's favourite sport. The name is also used in-game to refer to the play where four lines, the maximum simultaneous clearance number, are cleared at once.

Tetris was the first entertainment software to be exported from the former Soviet Union to the USA, where it was published by Spectrum Holobyte for use with the Commodore 64 and IBM PC. While versions of Tetris were sold for a variety of home computers, especially in gaming arcades in the late 1980s, it was the hand-held version for the  "Game Boy" launched in 1989, that established the game as one of the most popular and successful video games ever.

Electronic Gaming Monthly - the monthly US video game magazine, rated Tetris in first place as the "Greatest Game of All Time".

By 01/2010, the games in the franchise had sold more than 170 million copies, consisting of 70 million physical copies (approx.) and over 100 million copies for cell-phones, resulting in Tetris continuing its popularity as the "best-selling game of all-time".


The Silver $2 Coin commemorating the 35th Anniversary milestone of the Tetris Video Game placed against an arcade shaped cabinet in which the coin is housed

The game's pieces - tetriminos - are conglomerations of geometric shapes composed of four square blocks each. A random sequence of Tetriminos slowly fall down the playing field, which is rectangular vertical shaft, called the "well" or "matrix". The objective of the game is to manipulate these tetriminos by moving each one sideways or rotating by quarter-turns, so that, they form a solid horizontal line without gaps. When such a line is formed, it disappears and any blocks above it fall down to fill the space. When a certain number of lines are cleared, the game enters a new level.

As the game progresses, each level causes the tetriminos to fall faster and the game ends when the stack of tetriminos reaches the top of the playing field and no new tetriminos are able to enter. Some games also end after a finite number of levels or lines.

The Commemorative Coin:


The Obverse & Reverse of the $2 Coin commemorating the 35th Anniversary of the Tetris video game placed side-by-side

This coin has been minted by the New Zealand Mint at its facilities in Auckland on behalf of the Treasury of Niue Island and features the popular video game -Tetris. The issue of this coin coincides with the Bran's 35th Anniversary, which will be celebrated world-wide on 06.06.2019.


The Reverse of the $2 Silver Coin has been inspired by the video game itself, with the iconic Tetrimino shapes on a chequered Proof background, arranged in a way to make it appear as it they are falling, much like in the game itself.


The Obverse of the $2 Silver Coin depicts an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, designed by Ian Rank-Broadley, whose initials "IRB" appear below the Queen's neck. The peripheral inscriptions are - "ELIZABETH II. NIUE. TWO DOLLARS. 2019".

The specifications of this $2 Coin are:

Denomination: $2 (Two Dollars); Metal Composition: .999 Silver (Ag); Weight: 31.1 grams or 1.0 Oz; Diameter/Size: 40.0 mm; Coin Quality: Proof with applied colour; Mintage: 3,000 pieces; Minted by: New Zealand Mint; On Behalf of: Niue Island; Year of issue: 2019.

Remarks: The coin is housed inside a specially designed Tetris-themed custom case shaped like an arcade cabinet and includes a colourful image of the Kremlin, paying a tribute to the games Russian origins. The Coin can be found cushioned in black felt by lifting the "cabinet" off the base, which includes a Certificate of Authenticity (COA), also on its base.










Links to posts on Australia, New Zealand and countries and Overseas Territories of the South Pacific on this Blog:


2) Papua New Guinea: An uncirculated coin set brought out in 1995 commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Independence 


 3) Currency & Coinage of the Solomon Islands: Dollars and Cents

4) New Zealand: New Banknote "Seventh Series" issued under Project "Brighter Money" from 2015 onwards

5) Coinage of the French Polynesian Island of Caledonia (or Nouvelle Caledonie) the CFP Franc  

6) French Institution for issuing uniform currency/coinage for French Overseas Territories in the Pacific and the French Southern Territories of Antarctica: The Institut d'emmission d'outre Mer (IEOM)

7) Currency & Coinage of Samoa: Tala and Sene 

8) Currency of the South Pacific Island Country of Fiji 

9) Coinage of New Zealand: A commemorative coin set issued in 1979 

10) Currency and Coinage of Australia: Dollars and Cents 

11) The Australian Emblem or the Coat of Arms 

12) The story of the Australian Penny 

13) The Legend of the Mutiny on the Bounty: A Commemorative Coin Set from the Pitcairn Islands depicting relics from the Bounty issued in 2009 

14) An Australian $5 coin issued in 1996, commemorating Australia's greatest cricketing legend - Sir Donald Bradman 

15) New Series/Generation of Australian Banknotes being introduced from 01.09.2016 onwards starting from $5 issues 

16) Southern Lights: A $1 Silver holographic coin issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in January 2017

17) Currency & coinage of the Kingdom of Tonga : Pa'anga & Seniti 

18) Postage Stamps & Coin: Commemorating the Centenary of the Trans-Australian Railway Line stamps issued by Australia Post & coins by Perth Mint on 04.07.2017


20) The Earth and Beyond Coin Series issued by the Royal Australian Mint (RAM): First coin in the series - The Earth - issued on 03.04.2018


21) Wedge Tailed Eagle Coin Series: 200 Dollars Gold, 100 Dollars Gold & 1 Dollar Silver coins brought out by the Perth Mint, Australia in its on-going series started in 2014 in collaboration with John Mercanti, Chief Engraver of the US Mint: Coins issued in 2018


22) Australian Kangaroo Coin Series: 25th Anniversary Commemoration: A $100 Gold Coin and a $10 Silver Coin with selective gold plating issued by the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) in 2018


23) "Kangaroo at Sunset": The Royal Australian Mint (RAM) is phasing out this iconic $25 Gold Coin from its repertoire of Commemorative Coins in 2018


24) "Discovery": An exclusive one piece - 2 Kilo Gold Coin studded with four Argyle Pink Diamonds/Gemstones minted by the Perth Mint, Australia in co-ordination with the Argyle Pink Diamonds Mine on 04.09.2018


25) "The Moon": The Earth and Beyond three Silver Coin Series: Royal Australian Mint issues the second coin in the series - a silver coloured Five (AUD) Dollars Concave-shaped (Domed) Coin on 03.09.2018


26) New $10 Australian Banknote issued on 18.09.2017 under the "Fourth Series of Banknotes": New generation of Australian Banknotes being introduced in a phased manner from 09/2016 onwards by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)

27) New Australian 50 Dollar Banknote (AUD $50) issued in 10/2018, under the "Fourth Series of Banknotes": New Generation of Australian Banknotes introduced in a phased manner from 09/2016 onwards by Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)


28) "Lake Argyle" - "The Jewel of the Kimberley", Australia: Limited Edition Series of Rare diamond ingots in Pink Gold (10 Oz. & 1 Oz.) and Platinum (1 Oz.) studded with eight Argyle Pink Diamonds each issued by the Perth Mint, Australia in collaboration with the Argyle Pink Diamond Mine (2018)


29) "The Sun": The Earth and Beyond Coin Series": Royal australian Mint (RAM) issues the third and final coin in the three-coin Series, a Silver Coloured Five (AUD) Dollars Concave-shaped (Domed) Coin on 03.02.2019


30) Australia New Generation $20 Banknote is scheduled to be released in October 2019, joining the already released Banknotes in the denominations of $5, $10 and $50 in the new Series

31) ICC Cricket World Cup, England & Wales 2019: An Aluminium-Bronze Uncirculated $1 Coin issued by the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) in 03.2019

Links to interesting Posts on coins from Tuvalu Islands:
Links to posts on issues from the Republic of Palau:

2) Four Leaf Clover - Coin titled "Silver Fortune" - A 5 Dollars Silver coin issued by Coin Invest Trust in 2018


3) Totem Pole 2 Oz. or 10 Dollars Silver coin from the Republic of Palau being issued on 12.06.2018


4) The "Maneki Neko Cat" ot the "Fortune Cat" : A $1 Gold Coin issued by the Republic of Palau: Minted by B.H. Mayer's Kunstprageanstalt, Munich for Coin Invest Trust in 2018


Links to Posts on coin issues from Niue Islands:


1) Battle of Marathon: Battles that changed History Coin Series: A $2 Silver coin issued by the New Zealand Mint of behalf of Niue Islands in 2018


2) Sachin Tendulkar: "World's Greatest Batsman": Gold & Silver coins issued by the New Zealand Mint on behalf of Niue Islands in 2015


3) The Red Dragon, an issue from Niue Island: minted by the New Zealand Mint: "The Mythical Dragons of the World Coin Series": The first Silver 5 Dollars selectively coloured Coin in the Series features the "Red Dragon of Vortigern": Year of issue: 2019

4) "The Four Dragons", Niue Island: Minted by the New Zealand Mint: The "Mythical Dragons of the World Coin Series": The second Silver 5 Dollars Selectively Coloured Coin in the Series features the Four Dragons: the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon: Year of issue: 2019

5) The "1001 Arabian Nights Tales": First $2 Silver crown Coin coin in the Series depicts the story of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves: Coin issue date: 29.03.2019

6) Video Game "TETRIS": A new colourful $2 Silver Coin issued by the New Zealand Mint, on behalf of Niue Island, commemorating the 35th Anniversary of this popular Video Game, which will be celebrated world-wide on 06.06.2019: Coin issue date: 15.04.2019


Postage Stamps issued by New Zealand Post





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