HEAVENLY STEMS AND EARTHLY BRANCHES Ancient Calendars 2 Oz Silver Coin 5$ Niue 2020

The reverse of the coin depicts the Heavenly Stems, a Chinese system of ordinals that first appear during the Shang dynasty, as the names of the ten days of the week. They were also used in Shang-period ritual as names for dead family members, who were offered sacrifices on the corresponding day of the Shang week. The Heavenly Stems were used in combination with the Earthly Branches, a similar cycle of twelve days, to produce a compound cycle of sixty days. Subsequently, the Heavenly Stems lost their original function as names for days of the week and dead kin and acquired many other uses, the most prominent and long-lasting of which was their use together with the Earthly Branches as a 60-year calendrical cycle. All around the reverse, the inscriptions: "HEAVENLY STEMS AND EARTHLY BRANCHES" – the name of the coin. The obverse of the coin features the Effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the inscriptions: "NIUE ISLAND" - the issuing country, "2020" – the year of issue, "ELIZABETH II" – the name of the Queen and "FIVE DOLLARS" - face value.