One of the grand old ladies of the modern numismatic world, the Royal Australian Mint’s ‘Kangaroo Series’, debuted back in 1993, and has enjoyed an annual run since then. Designs have been highly variable, made easier by breaking the series down into short themes, like the ‘Great Artists’ (2007-09), and ‘Seasons Change’ (2016-19), for example. This latest coin is called ‘Desert Life’, but the mint hasn’t indicated if this is a solo issue, or the start of another themed subset.

Designed by B. Scott, the coin depicts one of these iconic marsupials drinking from a river, in what looks to be a barren environment – a desert. The anatomy looks great, but the choice of location means the background scenery isn’t the most interesting thing, However, the rock face behind it does evoke a sandstone formation like Ayers Rock, which is a nice touch.

There are three variants in the range. The most numerous of them (10,000) is the frosted uncirculated coin. It’s hard to make out from the render, but we’d imagine it will be effective. Starting last year with the 30th anniversary release, this variant came supplied in a slab, rather than a capsule, which is then put into a themed sleeve. A great idea, that’s far better than being mounted in a capsule to a card, in our opinion.

Also on offer are one-ounce proof silver, and one-tenth gold proof coins, both presented in fully themed boxes. The silver has a mintage of 5,000 units, the gold 3,000. Sales are embargoed until 8:30 am Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT).