Title:
2016 NZ Annual Commemorative
Description:
This 1oz silver proof coin has been designed by renowned Māori artist Dave Burke and features a visually impactful design. The coin depicts a close-up of the Haast’s eagle in the background, with the impressive bird swooping down to catch its prey in the foreground. The rim of the coin features both the Māori and English name of this extinct species.
This legal tender coin is the only $5 silver proof commemorative coin to be issued annually. The coin comes with an individually numbered certificate that contains further detail about the Haast’s eagle. With a low worldwide mintage of just 1,500 coins, this beautiful coin would make a perfect addition to any New Zealand coin collection.
The impressive Haast’s eagle takes flight on the 2016
New Zealand Annual Coin - the third in an ongoing series that looks back at the amazing extinct animals of New Zealand.
The Haast’s eagle (Harpagornis moorei, known in Māori as pouākai) was the world’s largest eagle. Although it became extinct around 500 to 600 years ago, it had an everlasting effect on New Zealand’s wildlife. Owing to its efficiency at hunting a wide array of prey (including geese, ducks and moa), many New Zealand species developed special habits and attributes to protect themselves from the Haast’s eagle, resulting in the large number of nocturnal and well camouflaged bird life we’re familiar with today.
This grand bird of prey had a wingspan of between two and three metres and weighed up to 17.8 kilograms, meaning its weight in relation to its wing size could be heavier than any eagles alive today, It had talons up to nine centimetres long and could easily dive at a moa and kill it instantly. It would camp out by its conquered prey and stay there until its meal was devoured.
The extinction of the Haast’s eagle came about around the same time as that of the moa, not long after early human settlement. The moa was one of the primary food sources for the Haast’s eagle and that, combined with loss of habitat, resulted in its extinction around the 1400s. It is also possible that the eagle was hunted, as ancient tools made from Haast’s eagle bones have been found.
The first bones of the Haast’s eagle were discovered in the Glenmark Swamp in 1871, with the most complete skeleton found and recovered from a cave on Mount Owen in northwest Nelson. The eagle was named after Julius von Haast, the first director of the Canterbury Museum, who was the first to describe the fearsome creature. von Haast named the eagle Harpagornis moorei after George Henry Moore. who owned the Glenmark Estate where the first bones were found.
Capturing the majestic Haast’s eagle in silver: This stunning 0.999 silver proof coin features a close-up of the Haast’s eagle as well as an illustration of the bird swooping down to catch its prey. The English and Māori names feature on the rim of the coin.
This New Zealand legal tender coin is the only $5
commemorative coin to be issued annually and is limited to just 1,500 worldwide.
This legal tender coin is the only $5 silver proof commemorative coin to be issued annually. The coin comes with an individually numbered certificate that contains further detail about the Haast’s eagle. With a low worldwide mintage of just 1,500 coins, this beautiful coin would make a perfect addition to any New Zealand coin collection.
The impressive Haast’s eagle takes flight on the 2016
New Zealand Annual Coin - the third in an ongoing series that looks back at the amazing extinct animals of New Zealand.
The Haast’s eagle (Harpagornis moorei, known in Māori as pouākai) was the world’s largest eagle. Although it became extinct around 500 to 600 years ago, it had an everlasting effect on New Zealand’s wildlife. Owing to its efficiency at hunting a wide array of prey (including geese, ducks and moa), many New Zealand species developed special habits and attributes to protect themselves from the Haast’s eagle, resulting in the large number of nocturnal and well camouflaged bird life we’re familiar with today.
This grand bird of prey had a wingspan of between two and three metres and weighed up to 17.8 kilograms, meaning its weight in relation to its wing size could be heavier than any eagles alive today, It had talons up to nine centimetres long and could easily dive at a moa and kill it instantly. It would camp out by its conquered prey and stay there until its meal was devoured.
The extinction of the Haast’s eagle came about around the same time as that of the moa, not long after early human settlement. The moa was one of the primary food sources for the Haast’s eagle and that, combined with loss of habitat, resulted in its extinction around the 1400s. It is also possible that the eagle was hunted, as ancient tools made from Haast’s eagle bones have been found.
The first bones of the Haast’s eagle were discovered in the Glenmark Swamp in 1871, with the most complete skeleton found and recovered from a cave on Mount Owen in northwest Nelson. The eagle was named after Julius von Haast, the first director of the Canterbury Museum, who was the first to describe the fearsome creature. von Haast named the eagle Harpagornis moorei after George Henry Moore. who owned the Glenmark Estate where the first bones were found.
Capturing the majestic Haast’s eagle in silver: This stunning 0.999 silver proof coin features a close-up of the Haast’s eagle as well as an illustration of the bird swooping down to catch its prey. The English and Māori names feature on the rim of the coin.
This New Zealand legal tender coin is the only $5
commemorative coin to be issued annually and is limited to just 1,500 worldwide.
Country:
New Zealand
Year:
2016
Mintage:
0642/1,500
Material:
Silver
Denomination:
$5.00
Weight:
1 oz
Diameter:
40 mm
Edge:
reeded
Designers:
Ian Rank-Broadley
Dave Burke
BH Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt Gmbh
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Date Added:
2018-06-08 16:55:27
Date Added:
2018-06-08 16:55:27