2023 - Niue 50 NZD Palladium 1 oz Coin Czech Lion with Hologram - Proof

Czech Lion 2023 - embossed hologram, only 100 coins!

We present a unique variant of the Czech Mint's gold bullion coin “Czech Lion“ with a weight of one troy ounce in 2023. The central motif of this coin is an embossed hologram instead of a small sculpture!

In 1999, the Czech Republic produced a unique coin - the world's first coin with holographic embossing in pure gold. It was a bi-metallic commemorative coin produced by the Czech Mint for the Czech National Bank on the occasion of the end of the second millennium. At that time, it was the minting of simple binary microstructures, however, today's technology is at an incomparably higher level. There are currently only a few workplaces in the world that can design and produce non-binary holographic structures, and the Czech company IQ Structures is at the very technological cutting edge. In 2020, in cooperation with the Czech Mint, it created the Czech Security Check security hologram, which protects selected high-mass “Czech Lion“ coins from counterfeiting. Since holograms are not only a protective element, but also an ornamental one, both companies decided to go even further in 2023. Instead of a small part of the coin, they devoted the entire surface of the reverse side to the embossed hologram…

The reverse side of the coin, which is the work of the medal maker Asamat Baltaev, DiS., presents the Czech lion, the St. Wenceslas crown and the eagle, which is a synthesis of the St. Wenceslas, Moravian and Silesian birds of prey. Although the reverse side looks very plastic, do not be fooled - it is practically flat. The motif is made up of microscopic reliefs with detail starting in the nanometre range - i.e. billionths of a metre. The obverse side presents a lime branch and a composition that evokes the Czech flag. As the coins of the Czech Mint are issued with the licence of a foreign issuer, which is the island of Niue, their obverse side bears its necessary attributes - the national emblem, the nominal value of 50 DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2023. The obverse side, in contrast to the reverse side, is processed using a common medal technique.