Now hopping into its 29th year, the Royal Australian Mint’s Kangaroo series returns with ‘Impressions of Australia’

The 2022 edition of the Royal Australian Mint’s Kangaroo series of coins is the penultimate issue before it celebrates its 30th anniversary next year. Quite the achievement for a proof series these days, especially given the relatively rapid turnover in the modern coin market, it’s extra impressive that it has maintained such a high standard for much of that time.

Last year’s coin was an unusual piece with a sculpted, stylised look, and that continues for the 2022 offering. It’s quite a surreal piece of coin art, with layered background elements seemingly done in different scales and orientations, but we have to admit, it is a striking piece that the mint calls ‘impressionist’, and who are we to argue? We really like it, to be honest.

The obverse is the usual basic effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, using the international variant of the latest Jody Clark design, surrounded by issue inscriptions. Tidy, but dull. There are three formats in the range. A pair of one-ounce silver coins are identical, except for the finish. One is struck to a proof quality, and comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity. The other has a ‘frosted’ uncirculated finish, and is supplied encapsulated. This has a mintage of 10,000 pieces, double that of the proof.

Rounding out the trio is a solitary gold coin, also struck to a proof finish, but weighing in at just a tenth of an ounce. The light weight will keep the price down, of course, but it does limit the coins’ diameter to under 18 mm. The obverse image below shows the comparative difference in size between the two. This is the rarest of the three, capped at 3,000 units. All versions are available to order right now. A pretty release.