Product Details

2025 Niue 1 Ounce Seven Wonders Great Wall of China Gold Proof Coin

The final issue of the Czech Mint Seven Wonders of the World series is dedicated to the Great Wall of China. This legendary structure is commemorated on a stunning, 1 troy ounce gold proof coin.

A boundary ten thousand miles long – this is how the Chinese refer to the architectural marvel known to the rest of the world as the Great Wall of China. The expression ‘ten thousand’ represents an immeasurable quantity in Chinese, and although it is not a specific expression of length, this designation is appropriate. It is, in fact, the longest construction endeavor of all time. In the east, the wall begins at a sea bay on the border of Manchuria and continues far to the west to a pass in the Gobi Desert. Its length is an incredible 8,851 kilometres.

However, the latest archaeological research, which took into account all possible and impossible detours, came up with an even more fantastic figure – 21,196 kilometres, which is the same as the distance from the Czech Republic to Brazil and back.

The wall is not only long, but also incredibly old. Construction began in 221 BC, when the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang, connected the existing defensive walls of individual states into a massive single wall going through unified China. The structure got its current form during the reign of the Ming dynasty, eighteen centuries later. During that time, many new sections of the wall were built while others fell into a state of decay, so it is not easy to determine its exact length.

Why did Chinese rulers build such a huge structure that caused the death of hundreds of thousands of workers? The wealth of their empire had always attracted marauding nomads and conquering invaders, whom the Great Wall of China was supposed to keep out. However, it was too long to be guarded in its entirety. It worked better as a road along which the Chinese army could move quickly through otherwise impassable terrain, and as a communication line. Guards passed information using smoke signals at such speed that a message could travel from one end of the wall to the other in a single day. Last but not least, the wall inspired awe and was a demonstration of power.

This stunning monument to human productivity can even be seen from space…

The reverse side of the coin, designed by medal maker Ludmila Kracíkova, DiS., depicts the Great Wall of China in hilly terrain. Details of the fortifications are supplemented with the English inscription GREAT WALL OF CHINA. The obverse side, which is common to the entire series, features all seven new wonders of the world – the Brazilian statue of Christ the Redeemer, the Jordanian rock city of Petra, the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Roman Colosseum, the Indian monument Taj Mahal, the Inca site of Machu Picchu in Peru and the Great Wall of China. As the coins of the Czech Mint are issued with a foreign licence from the island of Niue, they also bear its national emblem, the nominal value of 50 DOLLARS (NZD) and for the Great Wall, the year of issue 2025.