太平洋島國發新幣 女王與星戰人物同登場

Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Yoda and a cast of other heroes and villains from a galaxy far, far away, will join the Queen on coins issued by the South Pacific island state of Niue。

Niue, a remote Polynesian state of only 1,400 people, is producing a set of 40 coins. While Star Wars characters are depicted in colour on the reverse of the new coins, a traditional effigy of the Queen by the sculptor Raphael Maklouf dominates the obverse。

As legal tender, the coins will have a face value of NZ$2 (£1)， but the silver content in each is worth considerably more than that。

Sets of four, each containing 1oz of silver, will sell for NZ$469 (£235)。

Others struck in silver-plated base metal will cost much less。

The coins are primarily aimed at collectors and investors around the world in a bid to boost Niue's flagging government coffers。

"You wouldn't want to go and spend them because they're only worth $2, but the value is much more than that," said Chris Kirkness of the New Zealand Mint。

"Traditionally, who would buy these would be coin collectors, but this product opens up the market as a gift product for enthusiasts of Star Wars," he said。

Star Wars rapidly developed a cult following after first appearing on cinema screens in May 1977, and spawned a huge merchandising industry。

Underlining the target market, the first issue goes on display at the American Numismatics Association's show in Chicago next week。

Further coins will be released until 2014.據英國《每日電訊報》8月11日報道，南太平洋島國紐埃將要發行印有《星球大戰》諸多善惡角色形象的貨幣，來自遙遠星際的黑武士、天行者盧克以及尤達大師將要和女王肖像一起出現在硬幣上。

地理位置遙遠且僅有1400人的波利尼西亞國家紐埃正在製造一組40枚的新硬幣。星戰角色的彩照將被印在錢幣的背面， 正面依然是雕塑家拉斐爾•馬克魯夫筆下的傳統女王肖像。

作爲法定貨幣，新硬幣面值2新元(摺合1英鎊)，但是每枚的含銀量卻比這一面值更加昂貴。

本次發行的硬幣1套4枚，每枚含銀量爲1盎司的硬幣將要價469新元(摺合235英鎊)。發行的其他鍍銀硬幣，造價會低很多。

這套硬幣是爲增加該國財政收入而設，主要銷售對象爲各國的收藏家和投資者。

新西蘭造幣廠的克里斯•坎克尼斯說：“你不會因爲他們面值2美元而去用它們消費，因爲其背後的價值遠遠這個數。”

“通常，購買這些物品的人可能都是貨幣收藏家，但這一硬幣卻打開了針對星戰迷的禮品市場”， 他說。

《星球大戰》自1977年5月上映以來，就迅速地積累了一大批瘋狂粉絲。並催生了一個巨大的相關產品市場。

主攻目標市場，首套硬幣將在下週參加於芝加哥舉行的美國貨幣協會展覽。

其他的硬幣將在2014年發行。