New Zealand - 2014-2018 - ANZAC Silver Coin Set - World War 1 All Five Years

New Zealand - 2014-2018 - ANZAC Silver Coin Set - World War 1 All Five Years
Mintage: 1,500 (Some Remaining Melted)

Matching Serial #37, All coins carry the same serial number. The only matching set we are likely to offer.

This 1oz silver proof coin portrays the official announcement of New Zealand’s declaration of war. When Great Britain declared war on Germany, New Zealand was drawn into the fray by virtue of still being a part of the British Empire. The design shows the announcement of war by the Governor on the steps of the General Assembly Library, now known as the Parliamentary Library, as Parliament had burned down in 1907. The foreground features an eager paperboy selling the day’s big headline – war had been declared.

The second coin in our special five-year continuity set, this 1oz silver proof coin with selective colour portrays the important role that the New Zealand Medical Corps played throughout the war. The first New Zealand casualties returned home in July 1915, mostly wounded from the first days of the Gallipoli campaign. The scale and impact of the war became much more apparent to those on the front line, those caring for the wounded and those waiting at home. On the right of the coin, New Zealand soldiers in Gallipoli carry a wounded comrade to help, and on the left a New Zealand soldier has returned home to recover in one of New Zealand’s increasingly busy hospitals.

The third in our special five-year continuity set, this 1oz silver proof coin with selective colour illustrates New Zealand’s involvement in the Battle of Jutland, which would prove to be the war’s biggest naval battle. The Imperial German Navy’s High Seas Fleet attacked the larger British Royal Navy Grand Fleet on 31 May 1916, near Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula, and the battlecruiser HMS New Zealand helped the British to hold the line. By the early hours of 1 June, with 25 ships lost and 10,000 men dead on both sides, the Germans retreated. Tactically it was a draw, but strategically it proved a British victory and a critical point in the war.

The fourth coin in this five-year set is themed around artillery, which played a crucial role in the latter part of the war. Cannons and howitzers were fired accurately over long distances and creeping barrages helped protect the infantry and tear down barbed wire.

The scene depicted shows troops operating a Howitzer on the right side of the coins face, and the scene on the left depicts soldiers advancing up Messines Ridge in Belgium during the Battle of Messines in June 1917.

The fifth and final coin in this five-year set is themed around flight and the incredible pilots that took to the skies in this new technology. At the beginning of the war, planes were a little-known form of transport that were seldom seen. The first planes during the war were used for reconnaissance, scouting out the enemy camps and returning home. It was soon realised that these technological feats could be also be turned into deadly weapons. Pilots became modern age white knights and were renowned for their bravery and fearlessness in battle.

The imagery on this 1oz silver proof coin shows an engraved picture of a pilot preparing for flight. The coloured section shows aircraft from both sides engaged in battle, the Fokker DR1 triplane fights for the Germans while the allies were decked out with the Sopwith F1 Camel.