June 2013 Archives
Australia 2012 AFL Premiers 1 Dollar Corporate Gift Pack
Unknown to the coin collecting community last year (2012) the Royal Australian Mint in conjunction with Australia Post and the Australian Football League released a commemorative 1 dollar coin which was distributed as a gift at AFL corporate functions in different packaging to what we've already seen this coin in. Officially released to stamp and coin collectors in a pnc (philatelic numismatic cover) this coin appears again with a small card in a sealed bag and as far as the blog is aware was given away as memorabilia of the AFL 2012 season at official AFL corporate functions.
It's not known how many of these coins were in issued in this packaging and their retail value is yet to be determined. If anyone can assist the coin collecting community with more information on this issue then we'd love to hear from you. Alternatively collectors we may have to wait for the Royal Australian Mint annual report to be released to maybe find out more about this release.
email us at: admin@australian-threepence.com
Australia 2012 AFL Premiers 1 Dollar
A Bag of 5 Purple $2 Coins from the Royal Australian Mint
A quick post about a further development in the purple 2 dollar coin for circulation release story. A press release from the Royal Australian Mint was issued today notifying us that 2 million of the purple coins would begin to be made available to banks via the normal distribution channels. However, for excited collectors who just cannot wait to receive one of the coloured 2 dollar coins in their change the RAM has decided to make a bag of 5 of the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II $2 coins available for purchase at face value plus postage.
The catch is that you cannot buy them online via the RAM eShop, you must ring their sales hotline (1300 652 020 from within Australia or +61 2 62026800 for international collectors) and order that way. There's a limit of one bag of coins per customer. We're not sure how many bags are being made available (one rumour is 10,000 bags) but regardless, it's an exciting development and something most collectors would want to take advantage of. So ring the RAM now and pick up a bag of those purple $2 coins!
Australia 2013 Purple Coloured 2 Dollar Coin Found in Circulation
It's here! 2 million purple 2 dollar coins you can find in your change! I doubt I could be more excited as my favourite colour is the colour printed on this new commemorative 2 dollar coin to be released into circulation. The Royal Australian Mint in Canberra has struck these coins as seen in the image above with the purple stripes. How excited will you be when you look down at your change and are greeted by a purple flash. Purple a fitting colour, the royal, majestic colour to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years as the reigning monarch.
If you're unlucky or can't wait to find one of these in your change and aren't keen on stalking your local bank branch then stop by your local coin dealer, post office or purchase a C mintmark coin from the Royal Australian Mint eshop.
Australia 2013 Humpback Whale Coloured 1 Dollar
The popular Royal Australian Mints' coloured dollar series continues with this release showcasing Polar Animals.
The latest coin in the Polar Animals series, depicts one of the most iconic creatures of the ocean, the Humpback Whale. In pad printed colour, it's a beautiful rendition set within the Antarctica seascape. Australia has an ongoing fascination with the Humpback Whale particularly between April and November each year, when the Australian East Coast becomes a whale super highway - whales migrating north from Antarctica to warmer waters to mate and give birth; then turning around and migrating back south to boost their reserves by feasting on the krill laden freezing cold waters of Antarctica so they've enough fat reserves to do it all again the next year.
If you've ever gone whale spotting, you'll be familiar with scouring the seas for their unmistakable presence - which is usually revealed with the all too familiar occasional puffs of air pushed through their blowholes, glimpses of dorsal fins cutting through the sea, pectoral fins slapping the water, tail flukes raised out of the water as the whale prepares to submerge, and if you're really lucky, a gigantic acrobatic leap out of the water.
The Humpback Whale has earned a special place within the Australian physche. They've been successfully brought back from the edge of extinction as a result of over-exploited, large-scale commercial whaling, primarily for the by-products created from it's oil, baleen and "whalebone" extracted after slaughter. In 1979, the government of the day introduced a permanent ban on whaling, with the 1999 EPBC Act (the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) now in place. A result of this Act was the creation of The Australian Whale Sanctuary includes "the entire Commonwealth marine area, beyond the coastal waters of each state and the Northern Territory". Within this protection area it is "an offence to kill, capture, injure, harass, chase or herd whales, dolphins and porpoises" and also lists the Humpback Whale as "vulnerable".
The Humpback Whale coin is the latest release in the Polar Animals series, as a standard 9 gram 25 millimetre aluminium bronze one dollar coin. This coin you won't find in your change. The reverse frosted uncirculated finish is a design by Aaron Baggio, with the obverse portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley. This coin is one of six coins in this series - two previously released coins depict the Polar Bear and the Rockhopper Penguin. The Polar Animals series follows the successful Animals of the Zoo Series of 2012 and the Air, Land and Ocean series of previous years. Issued at $15 this coin comes in a colourful collector card sure to interest the younger collectors! Mintage is unlimited at this time and will be determined by collector demand, see the 2013 issues and mintages table for the most up to date information.
Reverse Australian 2013 Purple Coloured $2 Coin Found in Circulation
Australia's circulating coin producer the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra is on the cusp of an exciting new addition to legal tender Australian coins! Celebrating 60 years since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the Mint has an exciting surprise for the Australian public in particularly coin collectors.
The Mint has even showcased a new website teaser in anticipation of this big release, Colourful Change. Now please don't read on if you want to be surprised by the drumroll provided by the RAM but it looks like we'll now see what we thought we'd see late last year.
For Remembrance Day 2012 the RAM teased us with the idea that we'd see a $2 coin in circulation, the first that wasn't the Aboriginal design we're all used to. The exciting part was that it was to have a coloured portion of the design, a first for Australia! As we found out, it's all in the wording of the fine print and what we saw was a coloured version released for collectors and a non-coloured version released into circulation.
Our hopes were dashed but have now been resurrected by this pending release looking eerily similar. Another 2 dollar coin, same size, weight and composition as what we find in your change. This time with a reverse celebrating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 60 years ago. The design, a circle enclosing a depiction St Edward's Crown, surrounding that circle, a pattern of purple coloured stripes superimposed on 3 concentric circles with the text 'EIIR CORONATION 60 YEARS TWO DOLLARS' and 3 dots. Take note collectors -purple stripes!! And on a coin with 2 million likely to be released into circulation!! If we hadn't thought it would happen last year then we would be more surprised but this is a huge undertaking by the RAM on a very fitting occasion for such a release. This coin will also be released for collectors with a C mintmark.
Fingers crossed, this time with such cryptic information released by the RAM, we find these stunning coloured coins in our change!
Australia 2012 Sir Douglas Mawson 1 Dollar PNC
Celebrating the life of Sir Douglas Mawson this 2012 1 dollar coin was released by the Royal Australian Mint as a tribute to one of Australia's true inspirational people. The dollar coin was packaged in this special coin and stamp cover and released by Australia Post. It was also issued separately by the RAM.
The 1 dollar coin is the standard size as the coins in circulation but this particular issue is released for the collector market only. The pnc cover comes with 3 postage stamps from Centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition stamp series released on September 4 2012.
For mintage information of this issue please take a look at 2012 1 dollar issues and mintages. Issue price was $15.95.
Australia 2012 Sir Douglas Mawson 1 Dollar PNC
