One of the most attractive coins released last year was the Koru, the 2013 entry in the New Zealand Posts ‘Maori Art’ series. 

This time around the coin celebrates the creation myth of Rangi & Papa and has been struck by the Royal Australian Mint for the New Zealand Post, not to be confused with the New Zealand Mint, an entirely different organisation that doesn’t produce coins for native New Zealand, but generally for Niue.

In Māori mythology the primal couple Ranginui and Papatuanuku appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. They are the primordial parents, the sky father and the earth mother who lie locked together in a tight embrace. They have many children all of which are male, who are forced to live in the cramped darkness between them. These children grow and discuss among themselves what it would be like to live in the light. Tūmatauenga, the fiercest of the children, proposes that the best solution to their predicament is to kill their parents.

But his brother Tāne disagrees, suggesting that it is better to push them apart, to let Ranginui be as a stranger to them in the sky above while Papatuanuku will remain below to nurture them. The others put their plans into action—Rongo, the god of cultivated food, tries to push his parents apart, then Tangaroa, the god of the sea, and his sibling Haumia-tiketike, the god of wild food, join him. In spite of their joint efforts Rangi and Papa remain close together in their loving embrace. After many attempts Tāne, god of forests and birds, forces his parents apart. Instead of standing upright and pushing with his hands as his brothers have done, he lies on his back and pushes with his strong legs. Stretching every sinew Tāne pushes and pushes until, with cries of grief and surprise, Ranginui and Papatuanuku were pried apart.

Rangi is the personified sky. He corresponds in name and substance to the Indonesian (Upu), Langi (Ceram), (Upu) Lanito (Ambon), ‘Lord Sky’. He also corresponds in substance to the Chinese Tien, the Mongol Tengri, as well as to the Vedic Dyaus, the Greek Zeus, the Latin Jupiter and the Germanic Tiu.

The 2014 Māori Art Coin is the fourth coin in New Zealand Post’s Māori Art Coin series. The coin shows Tāne separating Papatūānuku and Ranginui, creating the world of light. The intricate design is based on leading New Zealand artist Cliff Whiting’s mixed media mural, ‘Te wehenga o Rangi rāua ko Papa’ (the separation of heaven and earth). This well known piece of art can be seen in the reading room in the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington. The obverse carries the usual portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank Broadley.

This striking $10 coin is contained within a wakahuia, a carved vessel created for the purpose of holding taonga (treasures). The wakahuia has been designed and carved from black maire by Rangi Kipa and David Hakaraia. Rangi’s work is at the forefront of the contemporary Māori art world. The lid features a double interlocking spiral carved into it, known as a ‘takarangi’.

This striking $1 coin is a perfect addition to any Māori art collection and is housed in a special container featuring the takarangi design.This design represents the separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku.