Niue Island 2 Dollar Silver Coin 2012 Napoleonic egg - Faberge Egg
“100th Anniversary of Patriotic War 1812”
Series: Imperial Fabergé Eggs
Obverse: At the bottom – open Spring Flowers Egg (1899-1903) with a miniature basket of wood anemones inside. Above – the Niue Island’s Coat of Arms with the inscription “ELIZABETH II” and the mint’s mark (m/w) below. Around the Queen’s effigy – a 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 – the year of issue 2012.
Reverse: In the central part – the stylized image of the original "Napoleonic Egg ". At the top, along the edge - the name of the series in English: IMPERIAL FABERGÉ EGGS. At the bottom – a fragment of the six Russian regiments fighted against the army of Napoleon, depicted in pad printing.
Designer: Robert Kotowicz.
Year of Issue: 2012.
Metal: Silver.
Silver Fineness: Ag 925/1000.
Content: 0.54 Troy OZ.
Denomination: 1 NZD - legal tender in New Zealand.
Weight: 16.81 g.
Diameter: Ellipse 41.60 x 55.60 mm.
Quality: Proof.
Mintage: 7,000.
Exterior Decoration: pad printing and Swarovski Crystals.
Producer: Mint of Poland (Mennica Polska).
Series: Imperial Fabergé Eggs
The Mint of Poland offers a series of collector silver 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.
Imperial Napoleonic Egg 1912 Faberge Winter Egg 1913 Faberge
Napoleonic egg - Faberge Egg
The Napoleonic egg, sometimes referred to as the Imperial Napoleonic egg, is a Fabergé egg, one of a series of fifty-two jewelled eggs made under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé. It was created in 1912 for the last Tsar of Russia Nicholas II as a gift to his mother the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna. The egg is part of the Matilda Geddings Gray collection of Faberge and is currently long term installation at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York.
Design
The egg's design commemorates the centenary of the Battle of Borodino during Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia. The Napoleonic egg is one of only two Imperial Eggs of which the design drawings have been found, the other being the 1907 Standart Yacht egg.
The egg is crafted out of yellow gold, with emerald panels, rubies and diamonds on its exterior. The interior of the egg is lined with satin and velvet. The egg still has its "surprise", a six-panel miniature screen depicting in watercolor six regiments of which Maria Fyodorovna was an honorary colonel. Each panel has on its reverse side the royal monogram of the Dowager Empress. The screen itself is made from translucent green emeralds, rose-cut diamonds and white enamel. The hinges of the screen are ax-topped fasces.
History
The Napoleonic egg was given to the Dowager Empress by Nicholas II in 1912. The egg was seized by the post-Russian Revolution governments and was sold in 1930 along with ten other eggs to the Hammer Galleries in New York City. It was sold to a private collector in 1937, where it remained until it was sold in 1951 to Matilda Gray. After her death in 1971 the egg passed to the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation, and in 1972 the egg began being displayed in the New Orleans Museum of Art. From 2007 until 2011, the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville, TN was selected to house the collection. In 2011, the collection moved to become a long term installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York.