Saturday, 17 October 2020

1517) The Great Race, Niue Island: A Silver $8 (Eight Dollars) Coin with selective Gold plating minted by PAMP, Switzerland on behalf of Niue Island: Year of Coin issue: 2020 (with Year of issue engraved as 2021):

1517) The Great Race, Niue Island: A Silver $8 (Eight Dollars) Coin with selective Gold plating minted by PAMP, Switzerland on behalf of Niue Island: Year of Coin issue: 2020 (with Year of issue engraved as 2021):

The above Header/Banner displays the  Obverse and Reverse of the 8 Dollars Silver Coin and details the number at which the 12 animals came to the Buddha's Conference and were assigned a Lunar Zodiacal year.

The Great Race:

The exact origins of the 12 animal signs is rather lost in the obscurity of time but there is no doubt that they originated in China.

In terms of the Chinese "astrological history", the 12 animals are of a rather recent introduction for it seems that in the 2nd Century BC, Ssu Ma Chien (163-85 BC), who was the grand astrologer to Emperor Wu Ti, wrote the "Shi Chi" (or "historical record") which was a complete history of the Chinese up to that time. In his book, there is no mention of the 12 animals or the "Zodiac".

Originally, the 12 year cycle that it takes the planet Jupiter to complete one orbit of the Sun was believed to have defined the earlier calendars. The Chinese still call this cycle "The Great Year" and each month corresponds to one of our own years.

By the 10th Century AD, however, after Buddhism had been established in China, Calendar Almanacs, such as those written by the Tibetan monks in exile in the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas" Monastery in the remote reaches of North-Western China, depicting the 12 animals, came into existence.

There are many stories regarding the origin of the Zodiac animals:

Some mention that the Jade Emperor called for the race on his birthday.

Another more popular legend mentions that it was the Buddha  (583-463 BC), who created the 12 Animal Cycle. He is believed to have invited all the animals in the land to hold a conference together.  The Buddha was not surprised, as in his wisdom, he knew that some animals were friendly towards others, while others were enemies/inimical.

To encourage attendance, he decided to name the years after the first twelve animals who were to become symbols of the Chinese Zodiac and in order to secure their place, were required to race across a rapidly flowing river.

Although the worst swimmer the Rat (Xi) was very smart. The Ox had no idea that the Rat had hitched a ride on its back and as they reached the shore, the Rat jumped off the Ox's back and was the first to bow before the Buddha's feet.

So Rat (or "Xi" or "Tse" is its Chinese name), became the first animal in the Chinese Zodiac, followed by a rather resentful Ox ("Chou").

The Tiger ("Yin"), who had stayed abreast with the Ox initially, but tired out soon, finished third. 

The Rabbit("Mao"), hopped from one stone to another and was doing well, until he slipped. Fortunately, he grabbed onto a leg and finished at fourth place.

In fifth place came the Dragon ("Chen"), who would have been the first but had stopped to help someone on the way. On its way the dragon saw the rabbit on a log and gave a puff of air to help it to the shore.

The Horse ("Wu") looked set to finish sixth, but the Snake ("Si") slithered out of the long grass, scared the horse and took sixth place instead, with the Horse taking seventh place.

The Monkey ("Shen"), Rooster ("You") and Goat ("Wei") found a raft and, working together, paddled through the strong currents and the weeds until they reached the shore.

The Goat came in eighth place, the Monkey in ninth and the Rooster in tenth place.

The Dog ("Xu") had been too busy splashing in the fresh water and finished in eleventh place.

The Pig ("Hai") was the last arrival as it had stopped to eat and fallen asleep.

thus it was decided which animals would form the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac, and in what order.

Interestingly, Dragon is the only mythical beast in the Chinese Circle of Zodiacal animals.

The moral of the story is "Beware of Xi (the Rat)".

The Commemorative Coin:

The Coins have been produced by PAMP Switzerland, based in Ticino, Switzerland, which makes bullion-related medals and speciality collector coins.

On the Reverse of the 8 Dollars Silver Coin, with selective Gold plating is      seen       in charming detail   all  the animals of    the  Lunar year's Zodiac      in   a  great    swimming   race that    determined     their  order   in the cycle of the Zodiac.  

On the Obverse of the 8 Dollars Silver coin with selective Gold plating is seen an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right.

The initials of the effigy designer Ian Rank-Broadley "IRB" is placed below the Queen's neck.

The peripheral inscriptions read - "ELIZABETH II, NIUE. 2021. 8 DOLLARS. 5 OZ. 999 SILVER".

Both the faces of the coin have been selectively gold plated, while all of the relief is shown as frosted Silver Proof quality.

The specifications of the Coin are:
Theme: The Great Race for deciding the order of the Zodiacal animals in the Chinese Lunar Calendar; Denomination: 8 Dollars; Metal Composition: .999 Fineness Silver (Ag); Weight: 155.5 grams or 5.0 Oz; Diameter/Size: 65.0 mm; Coin Quality: Proof with selective Gold plating; Mintage: 888 pieces; Year of issue : 2020 (with year of issue engraved as 2021); Exterior Decoration: Gold plated 24K; Serial number on the edge; Certificate of Authenticity: Yes; Year: 2020 (with Year of minting engraved as 2021); Minted by: PAMP, Switzerland; On Behalf Of: Niue Island.

Each Proof Quality Coin is specially encapsulated and presented in a polished gloss hardwood case and is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity (COA), whose number matches that of the number applied to the edge of each coin.







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6 comments:

  1. coins and more17 October 2020 at 14:14

    Santosh Khanna has commented:
    "Gr8 information."

    ReplyDelete
  2. coins and more17 October 2020 at 14:16

    Vikram Bhatnagar has commented:
    "I Xi! Great stuff! 👍"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. coins and more17 October 2020 at 14:16

      Thanks, Vikram. Till February 2021 it Is XI's time, then the Ox throws him out 😀

      Delete
  3. coins and more17 October 2020 at 14:17

    Vinod Khurana has commented:
    "Great informative article."

    ReplyDelete