Niue – 2020 – 5 Dollar – Azure Dragon of the East

Description

The Four Auspicious Beasts Series

THEME The Four Auspicious Beast of the Chinese constellations is viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. They
are the Azure Dragon of the East, Vermillion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Turtle of the North. Each
beast is given its own individual traits, spiritual and religious beliefs and represents one of the Chinese five elements. The Azure
Dragon of the East and Spring season, are considered by the Chinese as the noblest of animals, bringers of wealth and good
fortune.

DESIGN The 2 oz fine-silver coin is strucked in a
new minting technique that combines another layer
of 11.5 oz of copper resulting in super ultra high
relief while being topped off with silver antique
finishing. The collectible highlights the Azure
Dragon as the focal point on the reverse with its
supporting elements such as the woods. Title of the
character and series is gilded in Gold. While the
obverse features the ancient Chinese constellation
graph surrounding an octagon shaped yinyang as
the backdrop for the legal tender

四大神獸是威鎭東南西北四方之神。所謂“青龍白虎掌四方，朱雀玄武順陰陽”。其融入五行和方位，并以不同颜色代表：東方
青龍爲木；西方白虎爲金；南方朱雀爲火；北方玄武爲水；其中黄龍爲土，即是四神獸之長。依照天空的恒星，其划分爲“三垣”和“四象”
七大星区。東方的星象如一条龍，所以称爲青龍。地球围绕太陽公转，天空的星象也随着季節转换，每到冬春之交，青龍便显现。十二時
辰里往往青龍对應的時辰爲吉時， 即爲龍呈吉祥！