The Royal Australian Mint is now offering the 2009 $1 Inspirational Australian Steve Irwin Uncirculated Coin. This coin is the second in a series of Inspirational Australians that last year featured Mary MacKillip, who was beatified by Pope John Paul I in 1995.

Steve Irwin was a well-known celebrity who met an untimely fate in 2006. Host of the popular Crocodile Hunter series, Irwin was enthusiastically supportive of Australia’s wildlife.

His parents started the Australia Zoo and Irwin grew up around exotic creatures. He is attributed with wresting with his first crocodile at the age of nine. Not content with merely putting on a show, Irwin was adamant about educating the public about wildlife as well. Read the rest of this entry »

The Royal Australian Mint is holding a September Spring Cleaning Collector Auction, marking the first time it has held such an event.

Set for September 12, 2009, the auction will occur at the Mint’s location on Denison Street in the Deakin suburb of the Australian Capital Territory. Registration for the event will start at 2:30 PM and continues until 3:10 PM.

The auction itself is set to begin promptly at 3:15 PM.Only registered bidders will be allowed to participate.

The items slated to be sold make up quite an eclectic collection; from multiple coins to framed posters to information panels. Read the rest of this entry »

The Royal Australian Mint will launch the first coin in their new series titled Australia Remembers at the Royal College of Nursing, Australia’s International Nurses Day celebrations in Canberra tonight.  

The series pays tribute to past and present Australians who played important roles during times of war, conflict and peacekeeping. The first coin in this series honours past and present Australian Services nurses.

"Since the time of the Boer War, service nurses have contributed by caring for the sick and wounded in every conflict to which Australia has committed troops," said Graham Smith, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australian Mint.

"Whilst this coin has been made specifically for the Australia Remember series, I like to think it reminds everyone about the work that nurses do all around the world and realise how often they go unrecognised," said Mr Smith.

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The Royal Australian Mint has released a new coin series titled Australia Remembers ahead of ANZAC Day which pays tribute to past and present Australians who played important roles during times of war, conflict and peacekeeping.

"It is fitting to release this new series today as the nation takes the time to reflect on and celebrate the enormous sacrifices made by our diggers and those people who have served and died for Australia," said Graham Smith, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australian Mint.

The first coin released in the Australia Remembers series honours past and present Australian Service nurses. Read the rest of this entry »

In the first release from the new Australia Remembers series, the Royal Australian Mint has introduced the Australian Services Nurses 20c Uncirculated Coin.

The commemorative coin design, by W. Pietranik, portrays a wounded "Aussie Digger" (Australian soldier) comforted and nursed back to health.

Military nursing in Australia was established in 1899. In January 1900 fourteen nurses set off from Sydney for the Boer War. Australian Services Nurses have since served in both world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bougainville, East Timor, and most recently in the Gulf and Afghanistan conflicts. Read the rest of this entry »

For a number of years Cricket ACT has been using the same coin in the coin toss at the Prime Minister’s XI cricket match in Canberra. This year will be different.

The coin tossed today is a collectible from the Royal Australian Mint and celebrates what would have been Sir Donald Bradman’s greatest century of all, his 100th birthday.

"It is a great pleasure to see the coin being used in such a monumental event," Royal Australian Mint’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Graham Smith said.

"Most people at the PM’s XI would agree that Sir Donald Bradman is a true inspiration to all sportsmen and he played an important role in the development of the game and shaping this nation."

The collectible coin was released in July 2008 in partnership with the Bradman Foundation and depicts The Don giving the crowd his customary salute after scoring a century. Read the rest of this entry »

Five hundred collector coins from the Royal Australian Mint will have the trip of a lifetime in a commemorative flight over the Antarctic to mark the centenary of the attainment of the South Magnetic Pole. At their recent 2009 product launch, the Royal Australian Mint released its third coin in their Polar Series – Antarctic Explorers. Today [17 Jan.] this coin is fittingly onboard the South Magnetic Pole Centenary Flyover, organised by the Royal Society of Victoria.

In recognition of the centenary, the Antarctic Explorers coin features members of the 1907-09 Earnest Shackleton Expedition: Sir Douglas Mawson accompanied by Tannat Edgeworth Casey and Forbes Mckay, who were the first group to reach the South Magnetic Pole.

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The Royal Australian Mint launched 2009 by celebrating sixty years of the enactment of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 with the release of a proof silver dollar and an uncirculated $1 coin.

These coins uniquely bear a "C" mintmark, denoting they were minted in Canberra. And according to the Mint, no other coins in 2009 will include the mark.

The following statements were released explaining the importance of the coin and its design: Read the rest of this entry »

Ottawa, Ontario – The Royal Canadian Mint today [January 9] released its first new collector coins and gift products of 2009, choosing the centennial of flight in Canada as the theme of its highly anticipated 2009 Proof Silver Dollar.

This coin leads a formation of annual releases consisting of $100, $200 and $300 face value gold issues, as well as proof, uncirculated and specimen coin sets celebrating popular and meaningful themes. The Mint’s fine silver version of the Historical Commerce Collection, "new look" gift sets and new greeting card coins complete the line-up. 

"The Royal Canadian Mint continues to stand out among the world’s mints by producing collector coins of striking appearance and exceptional quality," said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "The first collector coins of 2009 are shining examples of our passion for crafting coins of outstanding beauty and value for buyers from across Canada and around the world."

Below are the featured products being introduced. Read the rest of this entry »