The tiny nation of Niue (it’s an island in the South Pacific to any of you who are into geography), has become infinitely cooler in the books of Star Wars fans everywhere. In a unique (but a little bizarre) approach to jump-start their struggling economy, they are about to mint some limited edition currency featuring some of the most memorable characters from a galaxy far, far away. What is even niftier is that these coins will have legal tender on the island of Niue and will be worth about $2 each.

Not to worry, Star Wars fans. Anyone interested in aquiring the coins for their personal collection can order them over at the New Zealand Mint. Check out the details of the collection and the gallery below.

The collectible coins — some made of pure silver and packaged in special cases that hold four coins, others made of silver-plated base metal and sold in blister packs — will retail for considerably more than their $2 face value.

Each of the two cases will house a set of four 1-ounce silver coins and sell for $393. The Darth Vader case will emit the sound of the Sith Lord’s instantly recognizable breathing upon opening. It will hold coins with the images of Emperor Palpatine, the Death Star, a stormtrooper and Vader himself.

The Millennium Falcon case will replicate the sound of the ship’s “jump to light speed” from the movies and will hold coins featuring four famous Star Wars duos: Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, R2-D2 and C-3PO, and Han Solo and Chewbacca. The sets will be limited to 7,500 of each coin.

The silver-plated base-metal Star Wars coins, featuring 40 characters from the sci-fi saga, will sell for about $20 each. The run will be limited to 50,000 of each coin, with a 40-coin holder coming soon.

[Source] Wired