Niue 1 Dollar Silver Coin 2012 Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg - Faberge Egg
Series: Imperial Fabergé Eggs
Obverse: At the bottom – open „Spring Flowers Egg” (1899-1903) with a miniature basket and a bouquet of anemones. Above the basket – the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with an inscription: ELIZABETH II and the mint mark (m/w). Around – a decorative, neo-rococo ornament. Along the rim – the issuer’s name: NIUE ISLAND, the face value: 1 DOLLAR, the hallmark (Ag 925) and the year of issue – 2012.
Reverse: The beautifully crafted reverse features the Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg (1899), also known as the Madonna Lily Clock Egg. It is made of varicolored gold, platinum, rose-cut diamonds, white onyx, translucent yellow enamel and opaque white enamel. Imperial Faberge Eggs got their name due to the fact that they were made for Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia. The reverse image is embellished with two colored Swarovski crystals to fully express the finesse and magnificence of the original Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg. The coin has been issued with the limited mintage of 9999 pieces worldwide.
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 39 x 29.20 mm.
Quality: Proof.
Mintage: 9,000.
Exterior Decoration: Zircons and Elements in Polished Finish.
Producer: Mint of Poland (Mennica Polska).
Series: Imperial Fabergé Eggs
Imperial Faberge Eggs is a magnificent series of minted replicas of works by Carl Peter Faberge and his assistants. Thanks to the exuberance, intricacy and splendour of decoration, Faberge Eggs have gained a huge popularity as jewelry masterpieces. Now, struck in .925 proof silver, they are sure to become an extravagant and luxurious addition to any modern coin collection.
Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg
The Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg (or the Madonna Lily Egg) is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1899, for Tsar Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna. It is currently held in the Kremlin Armoury Museum in Moscow, and it is one of the few Fabergé eggs that have never left Russia.
Design
The Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg is one of the larger Fabergé eggs. The egg-shaped clock and its rectangular pedestal are decorated with translucent enamel on a guilloché background. The body of the clock is divided into twelve parts which are outlined in diamond-studded stripes. The belt of the dial which revolves around the perimeter of the egg is enameled white with twelve Roman numerals set in diamonds. The hours are indicated by a diamond clock hand shaped like the head of an arrow in a drawn bow. The hand is fixed to an immobile onyx base. The varicolored gold base itself is decorated with rosettes and the date of its manufacture, 1899, is set in diamonds. It is designed as a vase with red-gold scrolls serving as extra supports at either side. A gold key was used to wind the mechanism.
The clock is crowned with a bouquet of Madonna lilies, carved from onyx. The pistils of the flowers are set with three small rose diamonds, and the leaves and stems are of tinted gold. The egg uses the language of flowers which was well known at the time. The roses were symbols of love and the lilies were a symbol of purity and innocence.
Surprise
The surprise from this egg is currently missing, but from contemporary photographs it is known to have been a ruby pendant with rose-cut diamonds.