Saturday, 9 January 2021

1622) "Ancient Calendars - Heavenly Stems & Earthly Branches," Niue Island: The Third Coin released in the "Ancient Calendars Coin Series": A $5 (Five Dollars), 2oz Silver Coin issued by Niue Island: Year of Coin issue: 2020:

1622)  "Ancient Calendars - Heavenly Stems & Earthly Branches," Niue Island: The Third Coin released in the "Ancient Calendars Coin Series": 
A $5 (Five Dollars),  2oz Silver Coin issued by Niue Island: Year of Coin issue: 2020:

An Ancient Calendar featuring ten Heavenly Stems or Celestial stems and Earthly Branches:

The history of the creation of the Heavenly Stem (Stem) and Earthly Branch (Root) goes all the way back to 4000 years ago  at the time of the Xia Dynasty where the first heavenly stem 甲 was named after the emperor Kong Jia (孔甲) in the late Xia.

The ten Heavenly Stems or Celestial Stems  are a Chinese system of ordinals which was perfected during the Shang dynasty, c. 1250 BC, as the names of the ten days of the week. 

They were also used in Shang-period ritual as names for dead family members, who were offered sacrifices on the corresponding day of the Shang week. 

The Heavenly Stems were used in combination with the Earthly Branches, a similar cycle of twelve days, to produce a compound cycle of sixty days.

 Subsequently, the Heavenly Stems lost their original function as names for days of the week and dead kin, and acquired many other uses, the most prominent and long lasting of which was their use together with the Earthly Branches as a 60-year calendrical cycle. The system is used throughout East Asia. 

The Shang people believed that there were ten suns, each of which appeared in order in a ten-day cycle (旬; xún). The Heavenly Stems (tiāngān 天干) were the names of the ten suns, which may have designated world ages as did the Five Suns and the Six Ages of the World of Saint Augustine. 

They were found in the given names of the kings of the Shang in their Temple Names. These consisted of a relational term (Father, Mother, Grandfather, Grandmother) to which was added one of the ten gān names (e.g. Grandfather Jia). These names are often found on Shang bronzes designating whom the bronze was honoring (and on which day of the week their rites would have been performed, that day matching the day designated by their name). 

There is a belief that the gān names were chosen posthumously through divination.

Some historians think the ruling class of the Shang had ten clans, but it is not clear whether their society reflected the myth or vice versa. 

The associations with Yin-Yang and the Five Elements developed later, after the collapse of the Shang Dynasty. 

The Commemorative Coin:

The Obverse of the $5 (5 Dollars NZD) Silver Coin depicts the Ancient Calendar. It is titled "HEAVENLY STEMS AND EARTHLY BRANCHES". Symbols and letters criss-cross in several rings/cycles. In the centre is the Yin-Yang symbol, symbolising harmony within the branches.

The design features Heavenly Stems and Earthly branches, the most significant counting system in this Ancient Chinese Calendar.

Below is an image of the coin showing its various steps and its High Relief mintage:
The Obverse of the $5 (Five Dollars) Silver Coin bears an image of Queen Elizabeth II facing right in the centre designed by Ian Rank-Broadley, whose initials "IRB" appear below the Queen's neck. 

The inscriptions on this face are - "NIUE ISLAND. 2020" (on the upper periphery) and "ELIZABETH II. FIVE DOLLARS. Ag 999" (on the inner section of the coin) 

On the outer periphery are carried over symbols from the ancient calendar from the Reverse.

The Presentation Box/Case in which the Coin is housed. It is accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA).

The specifications of this Silver coin are:

Country of issue: Niue Island; Denomination: $5 (Five Dollars - NZD); Metal Composition: .999 Fineness Silver (Ag); Weight: 2.0 Oz; Diameter/Size: 45.0 mm; Special features: Coin minted in Ultra High Relief; Mintage: 500 pieces; Coin Quality: Antiqued Finish; Presentation Box: Yes; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Yes; Year of coin issue: 2020.







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