Last year, MDM debuted the first of its Colours of Wildlife series, with a cool-looking Tiger coin. Ostensibly the sequel series to the producer’s, sometimes very pretty ‘Underwater World’ series, it carried on with the same format (3 oz silver, concave high-relief, resin fill), but switched out the blue resin infill for a foliage green instead. Now it’s back in 2022 with the second issue, the Koala, an animal that coin collectors need no introduction to, given its popularity.

Issued for Barbados, their coat-of-arms takes pride of place in the centre, but the obverse is much more than that. Surrounding it is a superb panorama of animals, likely the upcoming subjects for future coins, complete with lashing of foliage. We love it when mints take full advantage of both faces of the coin, and even though this is a common one to the series, it’s still a huge boost to the appeal of the finished item.

The reverse face remains the main attraction, however, and it’s good to see another fine effort from MDM. The border, complete with foliage enhancing the sense of depth on the coin, carries the title (did we really need the word ‘Australian’ given the animal resides nowhere else?), and the date. The high-relief depiction of the Koala is excellent, and the translucent green resin infill, over more foliage, gives it context. Overall, a really nice addition to the fledgling series, which continues the fine legacy of Underwater World.