These Star Wars Coins Are Now Considered Legal Currency On a New Zealand Island

If your three passions in life are Star Wars, coin collecting and obscure South Pacific islands, some great news! The New Zealand Mint has unveiled a coin collection featuring characters from the George Lucas franchise that -- get this -- will actually be considered legal tender on the South Pacific island of Niue. Details ahead.

In a brilliant* press release, the New Zealand Mint unveiled ten silver-plated base metal coins that feature full color likenesses of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, R2-D2, C-3PO, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine. The tail side of each coin features Queen Elizabeth II, sovereign of the commonwealth of Niue. Eventually, a total of 40 unique Star Wars coins will be released.

Each Star Wars coin will run you approximately $19.30 USD (plus shipping) while the actual face value of each coin is about 80 cents in USD. In other words, this currency is meant for collecting and not feeding the parking meter. The Star Wars coins are available for pre-order now but will not be shipped until Nov. 1.

For those Star Wars coin completists out there, the New Zealand Mint is also offering a Millennium Falcon Coin Set (pictured right), comprised of four coins, a custom Millenium Falcon case that emits "authentic movie sound effects" each time it is opened and a $385.56 USD price tag.

*Brilliant in that it used the phrase, "Don't deny the Force within you, and make sure you secure all 40 of these out of this world coins."

· 1oz Silver Legal Tender Coins [New Zealand Mint via LAT]