2012 Orang-utan $1
This Orang-utan one dollar is issued by the Royal Australian Mint as part of the 6 coin Animals of the Zoo series. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Zoo (the oldest zoo in Australia) the series showcases rare and endangered animals who call Melbourne Zoo home.
This coloured dollar is the last coin released in this series and features the critically endangered Sumatran Orang-utan. Their habitat dwindles due to extensive logging and palm oil plantations. They are also hunted for the pet trade. Sumatran Orang-utans stand 1.25-1.5m tall and share 97% of our DNA. They dwell high up in the rainforest canopy foraging for fruits and building nests out of leaves and branches. They rarely come to the ground and live a solitary life.
The Animals of the Zoo series follows on from the very popular Ocean, Land and Air series released by the Mint in previous years. These 25mm dollar coins have a frosted uncirculated finish, this one with a sculpted Orang-utan design which is then overlaid with colour in the pad-printing process. The design is by the RAM's Aaron Baggio. This 2012 dated one dollar weighs 9 grams and is minted on an aluminium bronze burnished blank planchet. The obverse features the standard Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Issued in a capsule snapped into a collector card for $15, for up to date mintage figures see the 2012 One Dollar Issues and Mintages Table.
Posted by harrisk at July 18, 2012 12:16 PM
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