The fourth silver coin from the Milky Way series is dedicated to the first animal in orbit - a dog named Lajka.

The first creatures to reach space, which means to cross the 100-kilometre mark above the Earth - were American octopuses in 1947, but the first animal to orbit the Earth was a Soviet dog. Her name was Laika (literally translated as “bark dog“) and her home was the streets of Moscow. Why did scientists choose her? They reasoned that the stray mongrel, who is used to a hard life, hunger and thirst, would be more likely to handle the demanding preparation and flight to space. Last but not least, Laika was sweet and charming - an ideal candidate for photographs to enhance the prestige of the communist regime... The two-year-old female stood up to the training perfectly - she got used to the cramped cabin, where she could only sit and lie down, to the special mushy diet, to the high overload, which she practiced on the centrifuge, and to the deafening roar of the rocket engines. She went into orbit aboard the Sputnik 2 satellite on 3 November 1957. Sending a canine passenger was a prerequisite for human flight, as the effects of space travel on living organisms were unknown. Unfortunately, return from orbit was not yet possible, therefore, Laika lost her life for science...

The reverse side of the coin was dedicated by medal maker Asamat Baltaev, DiS., to a stylised depiction of Lajka's rocket, which seems to have fallen out of the pages of contemporary Soviet propaganda. The vivid colours were achieved using colouring technology. No photographs or computer graphics were used as a template - the author of the coin created an original watercolour painting. The embossed relief shows stylized space objects - stars, planets and other satellites. The composition is closed by the English inscription LAIKA. The obverse side of the coin humorously presents crop circles and a flying saucer, which is illuminated by the portrait of Elizabeth II. Together with the Queen's name, the year of issue 2022 and the nominal value of 1 DOLLAR (NZD), this is a necessary attribute of the issuer of the coin - the Pacific island of Niue, which provides the Czech Mint with a foreign licence to mint its own commemorative coins.

You can save the coin dedicated to Laika dog in a collector's album full of interesting facts about our home galaxy and the conquerors of space.