The Royal Australian Mint is searching for a new employee to join their team of coin designers and engravers. The artistic person successful in their application might just design the next reverse we see on collector coins and coins in your change.

This full-time position is waiting for a skilled, proactive, motivated person with artistic flare to join the design and engraving section of the production services branch at the RAM in Canberra.

Under the tutelage of senior designers including Wojciech Pietranik the job requires the appplicant to develop designs for Australian coins and International markets using traditional methods and with the aid of computerised techniques to specifications of the Currency ACT for Australian legal tender.

For more information if this job is for you, see the RAM Website. Closing date is 16 February 2011.

Well, we've taken the plunge and created a page for the Australian Coin Collecting Blog on Facebook. We'll use this page to announce new blog entries, list up other coin collecting news that we don't post up on the blog, and hopefully have some interesting discussions with others who are interested in collecting Australian coins. If you're a Facebook member please head over and take a look and post on the Wall or Discussions area and let us know you're around!

Sports competition falls into 3 different categories within the Commonwealth Games for Aquatics - diving, swimming and synchronised swimming events. It is one of the most popular sports and the oldest in Commonwealth Games competition.

Shown above is the Aquatics commemorative 50c produced by the Royal Australian Mint. It was one of 16 coins issued in a series, the reverses of each depicting one of the core sports of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006. Each coin was released as non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) and were not issued for circulation but purely as collector coins. The informative card issued with the coin features a sticker of "Karak" the Games mascot indicating it is an official licensed product of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Release price was $4.95.

The reverse design is by Royal Australian Mint designer Wojciech Pietranik and depicts action in the pool. It also features the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 logo. The obverse is the standard Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II depicted on all Australian coins since 1999. It is the standard 12 sided 50c shape and weighs 15.55g. It is 31.51mm and made from Cupro Nickel (75% copper and 25% nickel).

As well as the 15 other sporting coins in this series, a commemorative 50c, $1, $5 and $10 coins were also issued. The 15 other sporting coins were released in groups throughout 2005 and early 2006 before the Games started. This Aquatics coin was in the last release in early 2006.

15,500 of the complete collection of the sporting coins, the student design 50c and the Queen's Baton Relay $5 were issued in a special folder. 31,702 of these Aquatics coins were released which included those in the complete collection.

The 2011 Australia Day 50c that we expected to be released yesterday appears to have not been minted. The coin design, composition, denomination and shape were tabled and accepted in Parliament on November 15th 2010 in the Currency (Royal Australian Mint) Determination 2010 (No. 5).
As part of the Currency act of 1965 new coins may be issued by The Treasurer with a legislative instrument known as a determination. These determinations include all legal tender coin information proposed before it is minted.
These determinations are just proposals by the issuing authorities the Royal Australian Mint and The Perth Mint and after these rulings it is not guaranteed that a coin will eventuate.
For coins entering circulation as was proposed for this 2011 50c it is possible that the RAM simply have not minted the coin yet and it's still in the pipeline (although the 26th January was the more obvious release time) or that Treasury decided that there were enough 50c coins in circulation at present and there was no need for it's release.

Just last weekend an Australian company took out a full page advertisement in the major Sunday newspaper in the city the authors live in. The company was looking to purchase gold, silver, coins, medals, and old watches and was having 'valuation' sessions at many locations around the city over a period of several days. It so happened that one of these locations wasn't far from where the authors live so we decided to pick a couple of items from our collections to take along and get valued. We decided on a raw choice unc 1934-35 Centennial Florin and a scarce Perth Foy Bag, you can see these in the image above.

Gathering up these couple of items (and a horde of children) we headed down to the motel where the company was holding their session. The valuations were being conducted in a small conference room with 40 or so seats and two buyers at desks at the front of the room. Five people were in front of us waiting to be seen and it was interesting listening to the valuers as they talked to these people. They were clearly knowledgeable, and quite friendly. They were also selective in their purchasing, by no means did they buy everything they were shown, in fact, they bought from just 2 of the 5 people they saw while we were watching. The others were sent off with advice about cashing in notes for face value at the bank or giving coins to grandchildren, this included one lady who had, rather shockingly, cleaned her copper coins with Silvo! Interestingly both valuers consulted the Australian coin value bible, Macca's about a couple of items.

Our turn came and the valuer looked at both our items for a grand total of about 30 seconds. The price offered was $260 for the coin and $20 for the Perth Foy Bag. We said our thanks and left. We're a bit hesitant to offer any particular comment on the worth of these "valuations" but a quick look at current CV for the coin suggests a market value of $750 in UNC and $900 for the bag in VF. Clearly you will almost never be offered these values when selling to a dealer, but the disparity between the offer prices we received and the catalogue values suggests you would do very well if you shopped around before deciding to part with your inherited coin collection.

Have you wondered why King George VI faces to the left and Queen Elizabeth II faces to the right? It's a royal tradition that the succeeding King or Queen face the opposite direction to their predecessor in their profile portrait depicted on currency.

From 800AD the coins of Britain showed the names of the reigning king, and in 939AD Athelstan became the first King of Britain whose portrait appeared on a coin. From the time of Charles II (1660) a tradition developed where the succeeding monarch's portrait on coins faced in the opposite direction to their predecessor. Up until this day there has been a general tradition on Commonwealth coins that a representation of the reigning monarch be shown and this includes Australia. The portrait must be approved by the King or Queen before being struck onto coins. Queen Elizabeth II always faces to the right. She has had a number of formal portrait designs through the years still seen on all decimal currency.

As can be seen on the image above King Edward VII (1901-1910) faces to the right and his successor King George V (1910-1936) faces to the left.

There was a glitch in the tradition of the direction that the royal portraits faced after George V. King Edward VIII (not shown above) who succeeded the throne had coins issued in his name which depicted his portrait facing to the left. He thought it was his "best side" and refused to follow the royal tradition. After just 11 months as King, Edward VIII voluntarily renounced the throne because of public disapproval for his wife-to-be Wallis Simpson. Objections were raised over her two previous failed marriages and she was labelled as unsuitable to be the King's consort. Edward VIII, unwilling to give her up, abdicated the throne in December 1936. Because of the short time that he reigned and the disagreement over his portrait no coins containing his portrait were issued. Some extremely rare pattern coins were struck in anticipation of his coinage being released but these never entered circulation. In more recent times some fantasy pieces containing his portrait have become available on the collector market.

George VI followed reigning 1936-1952 facing to the left and Queen Elizabeth in 1952 facing to the right. All the coins seen with her majesty Queen Elizabeth II depict her portrait profile facing to the right, from a pre-decimal 1964 penny to your 1966 round 50c to your 2010 Australian Tax Office 20c you got in change at the supermarket today.

It is expected that the Royal Australian Mint will release a second Australia Day 50c to complement that issued for Australia Day 2010. The circulating 50c is expected to be released tomorrow as all Australian's celebrate a public holiday for Australia Day 2011. The RAM will release the 50c into circulation and for collectors in commemorative RAM wrappered Mint rolls.
The design will be similar to the 2010 design this time consisting of a representation of a bunch of flowers tied with ribbons all entwined in a circular motion. The blossomed flowers represent the map of Australia. It will also feature the inscriptions 'AUSTRALIA DAY 2011', '50' and 'CELEBRATE WHAT'S GREAT'. It will feature the current Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.
It's a pity there has been no pre-release information on this coin as it's likely we won't see this coin in our change for a few months as it works it's way from the Mint, through security companies to the banks and shop tills. It would have been nice to have this coin available as we celebrate as a nation tomorrow with our beer and snags on the barbie. Cheers and have a great day!

Update: See 2011 Australia Day 50c for Circulation Part 2

The Australian circulating one dollar coin is a popular issue among collectors. Along with the well known mob of roos reverse design the one dollar has seen many commemorative issues released into circulation. Moving into the collector market we have seen numerous non-circulating dollar designs of the same size, weight and composition as the normal circulation issues.

Each year a particular NCLT (non-circulating legal tender) design is chosen to be the mintmark coin for that year. This is the coin design that will display various marks such as mintmarks, privy marks and counterstamps.

But what is the difference between these marks? In 2008 after the Royal Australian Mint made it clear to collectors what the new marks represented and how they would be used on coins, we wrote a blog post entitled Mintmarks, Privymarks and Counterstamps. What is the difference?. Prior to 2008 a single mintmark (this mark prior to 2008 actually looked like what we now call a counterstamp) was used and it was difficult to determine at which location or by which method a coin was struck, thus the need for a change.

Sadly, in 2009 the CEO of the RAM, Janine Murphy (who appears to have been the driving force behind the new scheme) became unwell and the use of the portable press at coins shows ceased until late 2010. After a new permanent CEO, Mr Ross MacDiarmid, was appointed in 2010 we saw the portable press appear in November at the Canberra ANDA coin show and now it's due for the first ever trip of the portable press to Perth in February. Now in 2011 with the release of the 4 coin ram's head dollar set, we thought it was worthwhile visiting the topic again. We've done this a lot more visually this time and the 3 different types of marks can be seen in the above image.

1. The Privy Mark.
This is an incuse letter within a square surround struck in relief. The letter represents a location but does not imply the coin was struck at that location. For example, S for Sydney.

2. The Mintmark.
This is an unaccompanied letter struck onto the coin. The letter is on the die when the coin is struck and denotes the location that the coin is struck. The mintmark is a raised letter with no surround ie. C mintmark struck at the Gallery Presses or production presses at the RAM in Canberra, ACT.

3. The Counterstamp.
The counterstamp is a raised letter within an incuse circular surround. Coins are brought to the location pre-struck with the design and the mobile coin press strikes the circle with the accompanying letter onto the coin ie. C for Canberra. The counterstamp seen above was stamped on the portable RAM press at the Canberra ANDA Coin Show in 2010.

If you're interested in what mintmarked, counterstamped, and privymarked coins have been released since 2008 then please take a look at our Complete Guide to Australian One Dollar Coins which includes links the releases for each year where you can see the mintage figures for each coin as well as links to articles on the individual coin designs.

2011 was an interesting year of 9 gram 25mm aluminium bronze one dollar releases by the Royal Australian Mint. The mintmark dollar was the restruck design of the Shilling Ram by George Kruger Gray seen on Australian pre-decimal coinage. It certainly looks like a gold plated marvel in aluminium bronze after being seen only in silver before. We saw more of the portable coin press thanks to new CEO Mr Ross MacDiarmid, this made collectors very happy. 2011 was also the final year of Dorothy Wall in the Blinky Bill Baby Coin set, 2012 started a new series.

Year	Description	Type	Mint Mark	Composition	Notes	Mintage
2011	Mob of Roos	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	17,866,000
	CHOGM	Circulation	None	AlBr	Circulation	9,397,000
	CHOGM	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	RAM Roll (20 coins)	10,000 rolls
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	C mm	AlBr	RAM Gallery Press	unknown
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	C mm	AlBr	4 coin unc set	24,996
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	S privy	AlBr	4 coin unc set	24,996
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	B privy	AlBr	4 coin unc set	24,996
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	M privy	AlBr	4 coin unc set	24,996
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	H privy	AlBr	4 coin unc set	14,998
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	A privy	AlBr	4 coin unc set	14,998
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	D privy	AlBr	4 coin unc set	14,998
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	P privy	AlBr	4 coin unc set	14,998
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	P Counterstamp	AlBr	Perth ANDA Mobile Press	5,100
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	B Counterstamp	AlBr	Brisbane ANDA Mobile Press	5,000
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	M Counterstamp	AlBr	Melbourne ANDA Mobile Press	4,997
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	S Counterstamp	AlBr	Sydney ANDA Mobile Press	5,000
	Shilling Ram	Uncirculated	A Counterstamp	AlBr	Adelaide ANDA Mobile Press	5,002
	Shilling Ram	Proof	C mm	.999 Silver	Boxed Proof	9,038
	Kookaburra	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Coloured Air Series	25,019
	Rosella	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Coloured Air Series	24,892
	Sacred Kingfisher	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Coloured Air Series	19,002
	Major Mitchell Cockatoo	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Coloured Air Series	19,089
	Grey-headed Flying Fox	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Coloured Air Series	17,002
	Cairns Birdwing Butterfly	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Coloured Air Series	17,002
	Kookaburra	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Stamp and Coin Set (PNComb.)	**250
	Rosella	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Stamp and Coin Set (PNComb.)	**250
	Major Mitchell Cockatoo	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Stamp and Coin Set (PNComb.)	**250
	Grey-headed Flying Fox	Frosted Unc	None	AlBr	Stamp and Coin Set (PNComb.)	**250
	Dame Joan Sutherland	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	Inspirational Australians Series	24,951
	Centenary of Census	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	Coin in Card	15,024
	The Presidents Cup	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	Coin in Card	15,000
	The Presidents Cup	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	PNC	15,025
	The Presidents Cup	Proof	None	.999 Silver	Boxed Proof	2,997
	Year of the Rabbit	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	Lunar Coin Series	20,000
	Year of the Rabbit	Proof	None	.999 Silver	Lunar Coin Series	5,570
	Australian Wool	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	2 Coin Unc Set	30,002
	Australian Wool	Proof	None	AlBr	2 Coin Proof Set	10,500
	Dorothy Wall	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	Blinky Bill Baby Mint Set	27,168
	Mob of Roos	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	Mint Set	40,383
	Mob of Roos	Uncirculated	None	AlBr	World Money Fair Berlin Mint Set	1,500
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Proof Set	15,597
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Blinky Bill Baby Proof Set	8,800
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	AlBr	Wedding Set	2,500
	Mob of Roos	Proof	None	.999 Silver	Fine Silver Year Set	2,072

Footnotes: * - Some of these issues may still be in production. Mintages have been updated up to and including the 2012-13 RAM annual report released November 2013. **- Mintages included in the general mintage numbers. Not listed separately in the annual report.

Collectors who have been eager to obtain the new C mintmark Shilling Ram One Dollar for 2011 in uncirculated aluminium bronze have been told by the CEO of the Royal Australian Mint Mr MacDiarmid that they would have to visit the Mint's Gallery Presses to obtain this coin.

In a press release dated January 1st 2011 Mr MacDiarmid said "This collectible coin is an exclusive offer and one which will be sought after by many collectors. It is only available to make at our store in Canberra and bears a 'C for Canberra' mark on it, making it a memento to keep forever".

Collectors unable to obtain this coin in this way are now able to purchase it in the 4 coin uncirculated set available from the Royal Australian Mint, mail order and coin dealers. The four coin set features the C mintmark, S privy mark, B privy mark and M privy mark coins in a package similar to what we see Mint Sets housed. There were 2 releases of these sets issued in 2010 and the same is said to be minted in 2011 with a second set to be released later in the year.

Keep an eye out for these sets available from your local coin dealer or your Mini Mint Issue from the Royal Australian Mint in your mailbox soon. Issue price is $15.

The heads up too is that there will be a ballot issue for those keen on obtaining a gold proof version of the C mintmark 2011 $1 Shilling Ram. Likely to be approx. $1950 this might be a bit pricey for most collectors, more info to come soon!

Before a legal tender coin is struck, the design and specifications must be approved for release. Currency determinations are published so we can see beforehand what is likely to be struck. In a currency determination dated December 16th 2010 the Assistant Treasurer approved 3 new coins to be struck.

One of these will be an aluminium bronze 25mm one dollar with the Shilling Ram design. The most important detail of this determination is that it is to be struck with a "'P' enclosed by a circle". It will be a P counterstamp dollar which will be struck with the counterstamp at the venue of release, P for Perth, Western Australia.

Different to a mintmark which is simply the letter with no surround, or the privymark which is a letter with a square surround, the counterstamp is a letter surrounded by a circle. The letter, in this case a "P" for Perth within a circle is stamped on a pre-struck coin at the location of the coins' release, usually a show or special event that the RAM attends with their mobile coin press. We have written an article previously outlining the differences with these mintmarks, privymarks and counterstamps.

To do this the Royal Australian Mint will take their portable press to the ANDA show on February 5th-6th in Perth. We last saw the mobile press in action at the Canberra ANDA show in November 2010 and we are very pleased it will be seen again so soon.

The Ashes test cricket series for 2010/11 was commemorated with a special 20c coin release into the collector market by the Royal Australian Mint. Designed by Wojciech Pietranik the coin resembles the six-stitcher cricket ball and is a unique design showing off the talents of the RAM's in-house designer and engraver.

The Australian legal tender 20c coin is featured in a PNC released by Australia Post. Endorsed as a genuine product by Cricket Australia it's an impressive collectable of the Vodafone Ashes Series of 2010/11, Australia vs. England.

The PNC features a 50c stamp of Sir Donald Bradman's baggy green cap and a 60c stamp of the wattle flower. It is postmarked at Woolloongabba Qld on 25th November 2010 where the first match of this series was held. Inside the commemorative envelope is a descriptive card which holds and protects the coin.

Issue price is $19.95 and is limited to 20,000 stamp and coin covers.

To commemorate the 150th running of the Melbourne Cup the Royal Australian Mint released a special NCLT (collector only) 50c coin by designer Wojciech Pietranik featuring horses and jockeys crossing the finishing line at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, the home of the Melbourne Cup.

Australia Post also issued commemorative stamps and combined the two to release a special PNC to coincide with the 150th running of the national horse race in November 2010.

The PNC envelope features the 2010 winners Cup under the Flemington banner (which is also depicted on the coin). The 60c stamp features Phar Lap, the most famous winner of the Cup back in 1930.

There are 2 issues of this PNC.
1. A general release of 15,000 coin and stamp covers featuring a horseshoe postmark cancelled at Flemington Post Office at 1 November 2010. It was released for $14.95 and could be purchased from all Australia Post outlets..

2. A limited release of 1,861 coin and stamp covers (The Melbourne Cup has been run annually since 1861). These PNC's feature a gold postmark of a jockey's helmet cancelled 2 November 2010 at Flemington, Vic. They are individually numbered on the front and were released for $19.95 each. These were only available from Australia Post by mail order.

From today, January 1st 2011 you will be able to strike your own 2011 Shilling Ram one dollar coin at the Gallery presses at the Royal Australian Mint Shop in Deakin, Canberra the Nation's Capital. Mint technicians worked through the night changing the dies in preparation for today's event.

It is set to be the mintmark/privymark/counterstamp coin design for 2011 and the gallery press coin will bear the C mintmark. This morning people lined up for the opportunity to be the first to strike the new coin, the first one hundred receiving a certificate. Last year we covered the event but weren't able to attend this years lineup.

The coin is different to the 2011 Wool $1 found in the 2 coin sets. It is a modern striking of the Uardry 0.1 design by George Kruger Gray found on Australian Shillings from 1938-1963.

Royal Australian Mint CEO Mr Ross MacDiarmid says "This collectible coin is an exclusive offer and one which will be sought after by many collectors. It is only available to make at our store in Canberra and bears a 'C for Canberra' mark on it, making it a memento to keep forever". Last year collectors believed the same thing until an Australia Post PNC release in February of the Cmm 100 years of decimal coinage $1 and then a 4 coin set which included the same coin. Maybe Mr MacDiarmid meant to say this is the only way to obtain this coin in this special folder.