Title:
2014 NZ Annual Commemorative
Description:
In this New Zealand annual coin series, we look back into the extinct animals that once roamed these lands. The subject of this 2014 issue is the Kairuku also known as the giant penguin.
New Zealand is home to six of the 17 species of the world’s penguin population, although none is as large as the giant penguin that came before them.
Kairuku waitaki and Kairuku grebneffi lived around 27 million years ago and grew to be 1.3 meters tall when standing and 1.5 meters tall when swimming, a full 30 centimeters taller than their nearest moder-day rival, the emperor penguin.
The kairuku had unusual proportions compared with modern-day penguins, including long flippers, a slender body, short, thick legs and feet and a much longer beak than is seen in penguins today. This body type and beak shape suggest that kairuku were divers that speared or snapped at their food, hence their name, which translates to diver who returns with food.
New Zealand, and its precursor Zealandia, had the ideal environments for keeping marine fossils in excellent condition for discovery. The most recent fossils were discovered in 2011 by Professor Ewan Fordyce and a group working from the Department of Geology at the University of Otago in the Kokoamu Greensand. Professor Fordyce first discovered part of this fossil back in 1977 and has made several excavations since to complete the skeleton.
The Southern Ocean bordered Zealandia, the same ocean that circles Antarctica, and for millions of years Zealandia was a suitable land for rookeries (breeding grounds). This, combined with the fact that New Zealand has risen out of the ocean in a way that makes the sedimentary rock housing these fossils accessible by land, enables scientists to continue to discover distinctive extinct species that once roamed New Zealand.
This New Zealand legal tender coin is the only $5 commemorative coin to be issued annually and is limited to just 1,500 coins worldwide.
New Zealand is home to six of the 17 species of the world’s penguin population, although none is as large as the giant penguin that came before them.
Kairuku waitaki and Kairuku grebneffi lived around 27 million years ago and grew to be 1.3 meters tall when standing and 1.5 meters tall when swimming, a full 30 centimeters taller than their nearest moder-day rival, the emperor penguin.
The kairuku had unusual proportions compared with modern-day penguins, including long flippers, a slender body, short, thick legs and feet and a much longer beak than is seen in penguins today. This body type and beak shape suggest that kairuku were divers that speared or snapped at their food, hence their name, which translates to diver who returns with food.
New Zealand, and its precursor Zealandia, had the ideal environments for keeping marine fossils in excellent condition for discovery. The most recent fossils were discovered in 2011 by Professor Ewan Fordyce and a group working from the Department of Geology at the University of Otago in the Kokoamu Greensand. Professor Fordyce first discovered part of this fossil back in 1977 and has made several excavations since to complete the skeleton.
The Southern Ocean bordered Zealandia, the same ocean that circles Antarctica, and for millions of years Zealandia was a suitable land for rookeries (breeding grounds). This, combined with the fact that New Zealand has risen out of the ocean in a way that makes the sedimentary rock housing these fossils accessible by land, enables scientists to continue to discover distinctive extinct species that once roamed New Zealand.
This New Zealand legal tender coin is the only $5 commemorative coin to be issued annually and is limited to just 1,500 coins worldwide.
Country:
New Zealand
Year:
2014
Mintage:
0432/1,500
Material:
Silver
Denomination:
$5.00
Weight:
1 oz
Diameter:
40 mm
Edge:
reeded
Designers:
Ian Rank-Broadley
BH Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt GmbH
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Date Added:
2018-06-08 16:55:05
Automatic Estimated Date:
2024-05-27
Date Added:
2018-06-08 16:55:05
