Niue 1 Dollar 2008 Kaliningrad

The “Amber Route” is a very popular series of beautiful collector coins struck by the Mint of Poland for the issuer, Niue Island. The characteristic feature of this series is an amber insert and a small mintage. The coins pay tribute to the main cities which lay along this ancient route of commercial contacts. The route connected the European states at the Mediterranean Sea and the lands on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, and was named after the major object of travelers’ desire, amber.

The first trips to acquire this old object of trade exchange were organized as early as in the 5th century. The exact route was never explicitly established, however, it is assumed that it went through Kaliningrad, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Elblag, Stare Hradisko, Szombathely, Carnuntum and Aquileia. 

Obverse:

In the centre, a stylized image of a cart, in which ambers were carried by the Romans from Baltic Sea to Italy. Behind the cart, on the left, a stylized image of a head of the Roman. On the background, a stylized image of a map with Baltic Sea outline. At the top, along the edge, a semicircular inscription: AMBER ROUTE. At the bottom, a semicircular inscription: NIUE ISLAND; above it, a nominal value: 1 Dollar. An image of the Queen Elizabeth II with the Mint’s mark (m/w), on the left of the cart. On the right of the Queen’s head, an inscription: ELIZABETH II; under it, a year of issue.

Reverse:

In the centre, an inscription: KALININGRAD (name of the Russian city – point of the Amber Route). Under the inscription, a stylized images of pugios – small daggers used by Romans. Above the inscription, a stylized image of the Königsberg Castle; next to the castle, on the right, a stylized image of a coin, which the ambers were paid for in those times. Under the coin, on the right, an amber insert. At the bottom, along the edge, a semicircular inscription in Polish: SZLAK BURSZTYNOWY (Amber Route).