Niue Island 2 Dollar Silver Coin 2012 Bay Tree Egg - Faberge Egg
Series: Imperial Fabergé Eggs
The Mint of Poland offers a series of collector coins dedicated to the exceptional Tsar’s Fabergé Eggs. These jewellery masterpieces symbolize extravagance and luxury. Designed by Peter Carl Fabergé and his assistants for the Russian tsars, Alexander III and Nicholas II, the eggs were made of gold and silver embellished with enamel and gemstones.
Until now the following coins have been released: "Coronation Egg", "Lily of the Valley Egg", "Clover Leaf Egg", “Duchess of Marlborough Egg” and “Pansy Egg”. The sixth coin of the collection is "Bay Tree Egg" presented by the emperor Nicholas II to his mother, the dowager empress Maria Feodorovna at Easter 1911.
Obverse: At the bottom – open Spring Flowers Egg (1899-1903) with a miniature basket of wood anemones inside. Above – the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the mint’s mark (m/w) and the inscription “ELIZABETH II” below. Around the Queen’s effigy – decorative neorococo scroll ornament. At the top – the issuer’s name: NIUE ISLAND. On the right – a nominal value of the coin (2 dollars), on the left – year of issue (2012).
Reverse: In the central part – the stylized image of the original "Bay Tree Egg" decorated with four rosy Swarovski crystals. At the top, along the edge - the name of the series in English: IMPERIAL FABERGÉ EGGS. In the background – the floral ornament.
Designer: Robert Kotowicz.
Country: Niue Island.
Year of Issue: 2012.
Metal: Silver.
Silver Fineness: Ag 925/1000.
Content: 1.82 Troy OZ.
Denomination: 2 NZD - legal tender in New Zealand.
Weight: 56.56 g.
Diameter: Ellipse 41.6 x 55.6 mm.
Quality: Proof.
Mintage: 7,000.
Exterior Decoration: Zircons and Elements in Polished Finish.
Producer: Mint of Poland (Mennica Polska).
Series: Imperial Fabergé Eggs
Bay Tree Egg 1911 Faberge
Bay Tree Egg - Faberge Egg
The Bay tree egg (also known as the Orange tree egg) is a jewelled carved nephrite and enameled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1911, for Nicholas II of Russia, who presented the egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna on 12 April 1911.
Its 1911 counterpart, presented to the Empress, is the Fifteenth Anniversary egg.
Surprise
Turning a tiny lever disguised as a fruit, hidden among the leaves of the bay tree, activates the hinged circular top of the tree and a feathered songbird rises and flaps its wings, turns its head, opens its beak and sings.
History
Based on an 18th-century French mechanical orange tree, it was incorrectly labeled as an orange tree for some time, but was confirmed as a bay tree after the original invoice from Fabergé was examined. Fabergé charged 12,800 rubles for the egg.
In 1917 the egg was confiscated by the Russian Provisional Government and moved from the Anichkov Palace to the Kremlin. It was sold to Emanuel Snowman of the jewellers Wartski around 1927.
In 1934 Wartski sold it to Allan Gibson Hughes for £950, buying it back from his estate in 1939 after his death. The egg has a fitted case inscribed with the initials A. G. H. which is probably attributable to this period of ownership.
In 1947 it was sold by Sotheby's in London for £1,650 and then passed through several different owners, ending with Mrs. Mildred Kaplan. She sold it to Malcolm Forbes in 1965 for $35,000, equivalent to $212,634 at the time of the 2004 sale of the Forbes Collection to Viktor Vekselberg. Vekselberg purchased some nine Imperial eggs, as part of the collection, for almost $100 million
The egg is now part of the Victor Vekselberg Collection, owned by The Link of Times Foundation and housed in the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.