The first release we’re looking at is one launching today, and the fifth in the mint’s attractive ‘Dolphins’ series. One of the most beloved of nature’s creations, dolphins are an original idea for a bullion series, and an animal, despite our initial reservations, which has proved adept at starring on coins. The Rough-toothed Dolphin is the subject here, one of the lesser-known species, which in itself makes it perfect for a coin. Numismatics are great educators, by raising the profile of species that aren’t just poster children for their types.

A nice design, and a quick look back at previous issues confirms my first thought that this continues to be a terrific series. We don’t have any in hand to photograph, unfortunately, but at least the renders are clean and unburnished. The standard pairing of formats, and although we haven’t seen it pushed yet, we did get an image of a five-ounce silver version, so hopefully that will put in an appearance soon. Maybe we’ll see an Orca design soon, as, for those unaware, the famed killer whale is an oceanic dolphin.

A particular favourite here, the Australia Zoo series not only has a more varied selection of creatures in it than some of the more focused ranges, but the gold and silver coins carry completely different designs, although featuring the same animal. The 2023 issue is the fourth, following tiger, cheetah, and elephant designs, and again, we have wildly differing depictions between the two metals.

The silver coin is outstanding and just how we imagine this powerful beast, complete with the birds famed for picking insect parasites from its tough hide. There’s a lot of negative space which we feel the inscriptions could have made better use of, but we’re quibbling here. That space on the gold coin is more sympathetic to them, so they don’t infringe on the artwork. Another fine looking coin, exhibiting an outstanding grasp of anatomy and behaviour. Both benefit from a lack of border. Beautiful. Well done RAM.

The youngest of the series on show today, the Humpback Whale is only the second issue in the mint’s Australia’s Antarctic Territories’ series. The debut coin appeared earlier this year, and was a neat piece depicting the Emperor Penguin, quite a few of them, in fact. This second issue is fully aquatic, depicting one of the most famous of the cetacean family. We have to marvel at how this mint ‘gets it’. Designs are perfectly tailored for the typical round shape of a coin. We often feel a coin design was originally drawn on a rectangular piece of paper and then cropped, but there’s none of that here, and it feels perfectly at home.

It’s a coin of two halves, with the lower half showing us a family comprised of an adult and two calves. Above is that most glorious of sights, the breaching humpback. Even the transition between the two halves is cleverly done, using the disturbance in the surface of the sea caused by the breach.Another great design in another great series.

As one of the first outside the UK to embrace the then new Jody Clark effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, it remains in use while plans for change moving forward are yet to be implemented. Like the Perth Mint, it carries the memorial inscription ‘1952-2022’, denoting the dates of her reign in the surrounding border. In all other respects, a standard obverse for a mint that rarely ventures away from it on their coins/