Lily of the Valley Egg, 2 Dollars, Series: Imperial Fabergé Eggs

Imperial Fabergé Eggs, known also as Tsar’s Fabergé Eggs, are considered masterpieces of the jeweller’s art and a symbol of extravagance and luxury. Created by Peter Carl Fabergé and his assistants for tsars: Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia, the eggs were made of gold and silver and decorated with enamels and precious stones.

The coin depicts precisely an image of the Lily of the Valley Egg. Very low mintage and unusual shape crystals make the coin highly attractive for collectors

Obverse:
At the bottom – open Spring Flowers Egg (1899-1903) with a miniature basket of wood anemones inside. Above – Niue Island’s Coat of Arms with the inscription “Elizabeth II” below. Around the head – decorative neorococo scroll ornament. At the top – issuer’s name: Niue Island. On the right – a nominal value of the coin, 2 dollars, on the left – year of issue: 2010.

Reverse:
In the center – the image of “Lily of the Valley Egg” with pieces of chalk white crystals. On the left side of egg, inscription “Imperial”. On the right side of egg, inscription- “Fabergé Eggs”.

Coin designer: Robert Kotowicz

In the original this art-nouveau style egg is enameled translucent rose on a guilloche field and supported on four dull green-gold cabriolet legs, composed of overlapping leaves veined in rose-cut diamonds. The egg is surmounted by a rose-cut diamond and cabochon ruby Imperial crown set, with two bows and quartered by four lines of rose-cut diamonds and decorated with lilies of the valley in pearls and rose-cut diamonds. The stalks are lightly engraved green gold, and the leaves are enameled translucent green on gold.

The surprise consists of three oval miniatures of Nicholas II in military uniform and the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, his first two children.

A lover of flowers, Alexandra Fedorovna regularly had trainloaded of blooms brought to St. Petersburg from the Crimea to adorn the Alexander Palace. Lilies of the valley were among the tsarina’s favorite flowers, as were pearls her favorite jewels.

This egg was the companion piece to the Coronation Egg in the 1979 sale by Wartski of London for $2,160,000 to Forbes Magazine Collection, New York. In 2004 both eggs sold privately for an undisclosed sum to Viktor Vekselberg, Moscow, and have returned to their country of origin.