The big event being commemorated over the last couple of years, and indeed over the next couple, is the First World War, also called the Great War. Starting in 1914 and finally coming to an end in 1918, the centenary commemorations of this 'war to end all wars' have been prolific in the numismatic world, with [...]
The fourth limited version of the Royal Australian Mints crocodile coins celebrating the stars of Australia Zoo has been announced. It features a huge Saltwater Crocodile called Monty and is the last of the pair of cois released every year by the Royal Australian Mint in what was billed as a twelve-coin series. The [...]
The Royal Australian Mint kicks off 2016 with a trip back to the past and the first designs struck by the fledgling Sydney Mint in the mid-19th century. Sydney, Melbourne and Perth were all branches of the British Royal Mint set up to process the large quantities of gold being mined in the colony. [...]
One of the hit series from the last few years and one that helped popularise the growing market for the hard to strike domed coin format, Southern Sky was a three-coin range of 1oz domed silver coins depicting constellations visible in the southern night sky. First appearing in 2012 with the constellation Crux, a [...]
The fourth and latest in the Royal Australian Mint's popular Saltwater Crocodile series has been launched and features a near half-tonne lump of walking teeth called Monty. Released in collaboration with the Queensland-based Australia Zoo, a 100-acre setup owned by Terri Irwin, the widow of the late nature star, Steve Irwin. Opened by Steve’s parents Bob and [...]
For the third year running, the Royal Australian Mint has released a coin to commemorate the world famous Sydney new year celebrations that take place every year, obviously, on the evening of the 31st December. Known as one of the most spectacular fireworks dislays in the calendar, they're televised around the world and are [...]
First issued back in 1993, the Royal Australian Mint's flagship Kangaroo series of silver coins has been a collector favourite for many years. From it's early days achieving mintages in the 50-70,000 range, the coins have settled down into fixed runs, this year at 10,000 for the frosted-uncirculated coin, and 5,000 for the proof. In recent years the mint [...]
Today's the day that Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest reigning monarch in British history and the numismatic tributes are flowing in at a decent pace. We've already looked at the New Zealand Post's innovative rotating coin and the Perth Mint's triple selection including a clever Intaglio silver coin, but there are plenty of other major Commonwealth countries celebrating [...]
Built in Amsterdam in 1628 and sailing from Texel to the Dutch East Indies later that year, on the surface the Batavia was just another merchant ship heading east. What followed was a horrifying story of brutality in the name of self interest that is still remembered almost four centuries later. Commanded by Francisco Pelsaert and captained by Ariaen [...]
I've always been torn by this coin. On the one hand it's an absolutely superb design, a real icon. On the other hand it's a limited proof design that has appeared essentially unchanged every year since 2009. The Royal Australian Mint (RAM) always seem to do great Kangaroo designs, in my own opinion usually better than the local competition [...]
