Royal Australian Mint issues a new silver coin pair looking at Aboriginal history and their bouncy wildlife

The Royal Australian Mint continues to quietly release some really nice coins, and this latest pair are a good example of that. Both weigh in at half an ounce of 0.999 silver, have a proof finish, and the simple effigy obverse, but outside of that, they stand apart. One is the latest in a long line of varied, and often quite superb, Kangaroo themed coins, while the other is a look at the countries aboriginal past, one of the most ancient in human history.

First up is the 2022 Kangaroo coin. The RAM has produced some stunning coins featuring this animal, like the ‘Mob of Roos’, ‘Kangaroo at Sunset’, and ‘Kangaroos at Dawn’, and this one isn’t far off the quality of those, in our view. It has a similar stylistic approach and exhibits a fine sense of dynamic movement. It isn’t encumbered with lots of unnecessary inscriptions either. Very nice.

The second coin looks a fine design as well, and packed with history. Lake Mungo is the site of many discoveries of early human aboriginal society. Remains dating back almost 40,000 years have been unearthed there, along with many examples of stone tools, fireplaces and food waste that all predate the last great Ice Age. Also found were some 20,000 year old footprints. Think about that for a moment. A footprint so old it predates the building of Stonehenge by 15,000 years!

The coin reproduces one of the footprints in the baked clay of the dried up Lake Mungo. It’s a simple design, but also one that works so well in depicting the subject matter. I’m finding it hard to put it into words, but this one really appeals to me, and has already opened up an archaeological site that I had little knowledge of before. That’s something coins are particularly good at.

Both coins are available now for a not unreasonable $65.00 AUD and come neatly presented in the mints new style of box.