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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;stldanceartist, post: 2663479, member: 13307&quot;]Every once in a while, you run across a coin that holds some personal significance.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>This coin is a great example.&nbsp; Purchased it at a local flea market last weekend for $20:</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><b>New Zealand 2013 1 Dollar 1 oz Silver Specimen Coin Reverse Proof</b></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b>&quot;Tane Mahuta &amp; Kiwi&quot;</b></p> <p style="text-align: center">.999 silver (1 oz ASW)</p> <p style="text-align: center">Mintage of 13,500</p> <p style="text-align: center">Obv: Queen Elizabeth II</p> <p style="text-align: center">Rev: Kiwi with Tane Mahuta</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]591465[/ATTACH] </p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p>From the postcard sized card in which the coin was holdered:</p><p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <blockquote><p><p style="text-align: center">&quot;In Maori cosmology, Tane is the child of Ranginui, the Sky Father and Papa-tu-a-nuku, the Earth Mother.&nbsp; According to Maori legend, Ranginui and Papa were joined in an embrace, leaving the world in darkness.&nbsp; The many suns of Ranginui and Papa lamented the conditions that they had to endure living between their parents, and resolved to do something about it.&nbsp; Tane Mahuta placed his shoulders against the earth, his mother, and his feet against the sky, his father.&nbsp; With all his strength he pressed the earth and sky apart - letting light in and creating the world we know today.</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center">Tane Mahuta is believed to have sprung from a seed around 1,500 to 2,000 years ago.&nbsp; The main trunk stretches for almost 18 meters (just over 59 feet) with a total height of around 45.2 meters (just over 148 feet).&nbsp; This impressive kauri stands proudly in the Waipoua Forest of Northland in New Zealand&#039;s North Island.&quot;</p> </p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Why is this coin significant to me?&nbsp; Well, back in 2014 I traveled to New Zealand with a dance company and visited Tane Mahuta in person.&nbsp; Driving through the Kauri Forest was like traveling through a jungle tunnel - heavy plant life crept in from literally all sides for most of the trip.&nbsp; When we arrived to the location of Tane Mahuta, a system of wooden walkways had been constructed for visitors to use, as repeated walking over the kauri roots (which are exposed to the open air) can actually kill the trees.&nbsp; According to the guide post description of Tane Mahuta, an entire ecosystem lives in the canopy of the tree - an ecosystem that botanists/biologists are only beginning to study.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is a small platform near Tane Mahuta where visitors can pose for photographs, and these photos were taken with my 15mm Nikon lens - sitting with my back to the edge of the platform and looking up, Tane Mahuta was so tall I could not fit the entire tree into frame.</p><p><br /></p><p>These two shots were taken by a friendly passerby so I could be in them.&nbsp; I thought it interesting that the two notches in the tree shown on the coin are visible in my photos.&nbsp; For frame of reference, the Tane Mahuta was about 100 feet away from the edge of the platform - just a huge, huge living organism.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Side note: I have yet to visit the California Redwood Forest (something that I plan to do in the next couple of years), so I cannot compare the two, unfortunately.&nbsp; Oh, and I did NOT see a Kiwi on our trip, so...I imagine it would have been cool, too.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]591464[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]591463[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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