718) The Battle of Marathon: Battles that Changed History Coin Series: A $2, 1 Oz Silver Coin minted by the New Zealand Mint on behalf of Niue Island in 2018:

718) The Battle of Marathon: Battles that Changed History Coin Series: A $2, 1 Oz Silver Coin minted by the New Zealand Mint on behalf of Niue Island in 2018:

The Battle of Marathon:

In September 490 BC, a vastly outnumbered group of Athenians defeated Persian forces under King Darius,  at the Battle of Marathon, Greece.

The Battle was fought between a force of about 9,000-10,000 Athenians and 1,000 Plataeans against some 25,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry, 100,000 armed oarsmen and sailors, 600 triremes, 50 horse carriers and 200 supply ships of the Persian Empire.

The Athenians marched to Marathon to meet the Persian adversary, but stalled the battle while waiting for reinforcements  from Sparta.

Meanwhile, one of the Greek commanders - Miltiades - convinced his fellow commanders to attack the Persian forces as they were grouping on the field from their ships. Using his knowledge of Persian battle tactics and in an act that surprised the enemy,

Miltiades ordered his Greek troops to attack the Persian line at a dead run - thereby reducing the impact of the Persian archers. He also weakened his centre and reinforced his wings and although the Athenian centre could not withstand the Persian onslaught and broke, it held long enough for his troops to envelop the Persians which caused confusion among the invaders. As the Persians fled back to their ships, large numbers were slaughtered.

It was estimated by Herodotus  (a Greek historian), that  as against Greek losses of 192 Athenians and 11 Plataeans, the Persians suffered staggering losses of 6,400 killed and 7 ships destroyed.

The defeat of the Persians at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece and gave the Greeks confidence in their ability to defend themselves and belief in their continued existence. The Persians forces were driven out of Greece for the next 10 years and it was only when Darius' son Xerxes I restarted the preparations for a second invasion of Greece in 480 BC.

The Battle of Marathon was a water-shed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that they were able to win battles without the Spartans on whom they had previously relied heavily. The Greek esteem as warriors whom the Persians learnt to dread and fear.

The Battle of Marathon  led to the rise of Classical Greek civilisation for the next 200 years which has been enduringly influential in Western Society. The Battle of Marathon is seen as a pivotal moment in Mediterranean and European history.

The Marathon Run:

According to Herodotus, an Athenian runner Pheidippides was sent to run from Athens to Sparta to ask for assistance before the battle. He ran a distance of over 225 kilometres (140 miles) arriving in Sparta the day after he left. 

Then, following the Battle, the Athenian Army marched the 40 kilometres or so back to Athens at a very high pace, considering the quality of their armour and the fatigue after the battle, in ordr to head off the Persian force sailing around Cape Sounion. They arrived back in the late afternoon, in time to see the Persian ships turn away from Athens, thus completing the Athenian victory.

Pheidippides run to Sparta has become the stuff of legend with stories abounding that he ran to Athens after the Battle of Marathon to announce the Greek victory with the word "nenikekamen!" (meaning "We have won") and dying promptly of exhaustion.

A "Marathon Race" is held in modern Summer Olympics, which was originally of 26 miles (42.195 kilometres, but now reduced to the distance of the Marathon Run - 25 Miles (or 40.0 kilometres).

The Commemorative Coin:

The Reverse of the $2 Silver Coin shows a colourful illustrationof the Athenian Commander Miltiades. He stands against an antique, engraved background showing Greek and Persian troops engaged in close quarters combat.

The peripheral inscription reads -" MARATHON 490 BC".

The Obverse of the $2 Silver Coin shows an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II designed by Ian-Rank Broadley. His initials "IRB" appear below the Queen's neck. The peripheral inscriptions read - " ELIZABETH II. NIUE.TWO DOLLARS" and year of issue "2018".

The specifications of this coin are:

Metal Composition: .999 Fine Silver; Weight: 1 Troy Oz; Coin Quality: Antique with applied colour; Diameter/Size: 40.0 mm; Edge: Milled; Denomination: $2; Year of issue: 2018; Mintage: 5,000 pieces; Issuing country: Niue.

The Coin Box:

The coin comes inside an antique-looking timber box with a black velvet interior. The themed outer box features a black line art illustration of the battle imposed over an antiqued paper texture. The coin comes with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA).

The open antique box in which the coin is placed along with the COA.

                                    The Cover of the Coin Box

                             The Coin Box together with the cover













Links to Posts on Australia, New Zealand and countries and Overseas Territories of the South Pacific on this Blog:

1) Bank of Papua New Guinea: 36th Anniversary Celebrations (1973-2008): A Commemorative Uncirculated Coin Set consisting of a 2 Kina Banknote & a 2 Kina Coin

2) Papua New Guinea: An uncirculated coin set brought out in 1995 commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Independence 

 3) Currency & Coinage of the Solomon Islands: Dollars and Cents

4) New Zealand: New Banknote "Seventh Series" issued under Project "Brighter Money" from 2015 onwards

5) Coinage of the French Polynesian Island of Caledonia (or Nouvelle Caledonie) the CFP Franc  

6) French Institution for issuing uniform currency/coinage for French Overseas Territories in the Pacific and the French Southern Territories of Antarctica: The Institut d'emmission d'outre Mer (IEOM)

7) Currency & Coinage of Samoa: Tala and Sene 

8) Currency of the South Pacific Island Country of Fiji 

9) Coinage of New Zealand: A commemorative coin set issued in 1979 

10) Currency and Coinage of Australia: Dollars and Cents 

11) The Australian Emblem or the Coat of Arms 

12) The story of the Australian Penny 

13) The Legend of the Mutiny on the Bounty: A Commemorative Coin Set from the Pitcairn Islands depicting relics from the Bounty issued in 2009 

14) An Australian $5 coin issued in 1996, commemorating Australia's greatest cricketing legend - Sir Donald Bradman 

15) New Series/Generation of Australian Banknotes being introduced from 01.09.2016 onwards starting from $5 issues 

16) Southern Lights: A $1 Silver holographic coin issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in January 2017

17) Currency & coinage of the Kingdom of Tonga : Pa'anga & Seniti 

18) Postage Stamps & Coin: Commemorating the Centenary of the Trans-Australian Railway Line stamps issued by Australia Post & coins by Perth Mint on 04.07.2017

19) Cook Islands: Commemorating 50 Years of Self Governance (1965-2015): A circulation coin set issued by the Royal Australian Mint in 2015:

20) The Earth and Beyond Coin Series issued by the Royal Australian Mint (RAM): First coin in the series - The Earth - issued on 03.04.2018

Links to interesting Posts on coins from Tuvalu Islands:

1)Famous Pirates of the Caribbean :2) Edward Teach or "BlackBeard"

2)Famous Pirates of the Caribbean: 3)Bartholomew Roberts or Black Bart Roberts 
  
 3)Famous Pirates of the Caribbean:4)Jack Rackham 

4)Famous-pirates-of- the Caribbean : 5) Henry Avery 

5)Famous Pirates of the Caribbean : 6) Sir Henry Morgan

6)Norse Goddess Freya - a Silver 2 Dollars High Relief antiquated Coin , the first in the Series titled "Norse Goddesses" (2017) 

Other interesting links to posts from Cook Islands minted by Coin Invest Trust:

1) Brexit : Britain's Exit from the EEC : Coins issued by the Cook islands in the denomination of $1, $5 and $ 20 in 2016 

2) 150th Anniversary of "The Great Tea Race - 1866": Commemorative Coins in the denomination of 10 and 2 Dollars issued by Cook Islands in 2016

3) The Mystical Ancient Egyptian Labyrinth depicted on $10 Silver coins issued by Cook islands in 2016, under its "Milestones of Mankind Series".

4) King Arthur: The first coin in the six coins "Camelot Series".

5) Quilling Art: Silver 2 Dollars coins issued - Flowers (2016) & Bird (2017) 

6) Queen Guinevere: The second coin in the six coin "Camelot Series". 

Links to posts on issues from the Republic of Palau:

 7) Republic of Palau issues "Sand Dollars": Silver & Gold 1$ coins

8) Four Leaf Clover - Coin titled "Silver Fortune" - A 5 Dollars Silver coin issued by Coin Invest Trust in 2018

Links to Posts on coin issues from Niue Islands:

1) Battle of Marathon: Battles that changed History Coin Series: A $2 Silver coin issued by the New Zealand Mint of behalf of Niue Islands in 2018