2021 2 Oz Silver $2 Niue Impact Moments METEORITE MUONIONALUSTA Antique Finish Coin.
DESCRIPTION
This Spectacular 2 Oz Pure Silver coin is dedicated to the to the extinction of dinosaurs as a result of a meteorite hitting the earth.
Each coin contains a piece of this meteorite called MUONIONALUSTA.
The coin is colored, has an unusual shape, has High Relief and Antique Finish and comes in a themed box along with the Certificate of Authenticity
The two companies have teamed up to create a unique coin with a motif referring to the extinction of dinosaurs as a result of a meteorite hitting the earth 66 mln years ago.
Each coin contains a piece of this extremely rare fragment of galactic rock called MUONIONALUSTA – a more than 4.5 billion year old meteorite discovered in 1906 in northern Sweden.
The coin has an unusual shape that on both sides symbolizes a meteorite entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
THE CHICXULUB CRATER
The Chicxulub crater is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its centre is located offshore near the communities of Chicxulub Puerto and Chicxulub Pueblo, after which the crater is named.
It was formed when a large asteroid, about 10 kilometers in diameter, struck the Earth. The date of the impact coincides precisely with the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (commonly known as the “K–Pg boundary”), slightly more than 66 million years ago, and a widely accepted theory is that worldwide climate disruption from the event was the cause of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a mass extinction in which 75% of plant and animal species on Earth became extinct, including all non-avian dinosaurs.
The crater is estimated to be 150 kilometers in diameter and 20 kilometers in depth, well into the continental crust of the region of about 10–30 kilometers in depth.
It is the second-largest confirmed impact structure on Earth, and the only one whose peak ring is intact and directly accessible for scientific research. In 2016, a scientific drilling project drilled deep into the peak ring of the impact crater, hundreds of meters below the current sea floor, to obtain rock core samples from the impact itself.
The discoveries were widely seen as confirming current theories related to both the crater impact and its effects.
MUONIONALUSTA METEORITE
The Muonionalusta meteorite is one classified as fine octahedrite, type IVA (Of) which impacted in northern Scandinavia, west of the border between Sweden and Finland, about one million years BCE.
Studies have shown it to be the oldest discovered meteorite impacting the Earth during the Quaternary Period, about one million years ago.
It is quite clearly part of the iron core or mantle of a planetoid, which shattered into many pieces upon its fall on our planet.
Since landing on Earth, the meteorite has experienced four ice ages. It was unearthed from a glacial moraine in the northern tundra, and has a strongly weathered surface covered with cemented faceted pebbles.
The first fragment of the Muonionalusta meteorite was found in 1906 near the village of Kitkiöjärvi. Around forty pieces are known today, some being quite large. Other fragments have been found in a 25-by-15-kilometre area in the Pajala district of Norrbotten County, approximately 140 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. The meteorite was first described in 1910 by Professor A. G. Högbom, who named it after the nearby place Muonionalusta on the Muonio River.
OBVERSE of the coin also shows a dinosaur skeleton and an image of Queen Elizabeth II.
REVERSE depicts a volcanic eruption and a Triceratops – reaching 9 meters in length, one of the most distinctive herbivorous dinosaurs.
The coin is made in high relief, which helps to highlight the wonderful details of the design.
Both sides of the coin are richly ennobled with Antique Finish and colors, emphasizing the catastrophic effect.
The coin has an Antique Finish quality and comes in an elegant display case, including an Acrylic Glass Display and Qureco box and certificate.
Limited Mintage Of 777 Pieces Worldwide.
SPECIFICATIONS
Country: Niue
Year: 2021
Metal: Silver
Face value: $2
Purity: .999
Weight: 2 Oz - 62.2g
Diameter: 50 mm
Finish: ANTIQUE FINISH, HIGH RELIEF, COLORED N REAL METEORITE ROCK INSERT
Mintage: 777 Pieces WORLDWIDE
Certificate COA: Yes
Box: Yes.
