The Royal Australian Mint has released a special one dollar coin featuring a detector dog on duty to mark the centenary of Australian Quarantine.

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is responsible for protecting Australia’s borders from exotic pets and diseases. AQIS also provides import and export inspection to support access to overseas markets.

The special uncirculated coin acknowledges the work and commitment of AQIS in protecting Australia’s unique environment and our multi-million dollar agricultural and tourism industries. The success of these quarantine practices has resulted in Australia remaining free from many of the world’s worst agriculture pests and diseases.

Read the rest of this article »

The Perth Mint of Australia is offering a unique set of silver proof World War II fighter plane coins for collectors. The Perth Mint is known for their production of themed legal tender coins, but this latest series of coins directly touches the history of five different countries and their mintage limit is capped to a very low quantity of 1,500 sets.

The World War II Fighter coins are striking in appearance with their proof quality and one ounce of 99.9% silver content. The colorized coins come within a 5-coin set. Each coins pays tribute to five World War II fighter plane designs.

Read the rest of this article »

Family owned, Australian business, Australis Engineering P/L has won the tender to update the Royal Australian Mint’s materials handling and warehousing system. The new system along with the refurbishment of the Mint’s facilities in Canberra and other modernisation projects is central to the Mint’s objective of becoming one of the best manufacturing facilities in the world.

Australis Engineering’s proposed solution to the Mint’s requirements incorporates high levels of process automation, modernised infrastructure and equipment, and re-engineered processes to:

• increase the physical security of coinage blanks and coins;
• reduce OH&S risks through the physical separation of people and equipment;
• reduce or eliminate manual handling within the Mint;
• automate the real time accounting and auditing of blanks and coins as they progress through the receipt, production, storage and delivery processes; and
• minimise time wasted with work in progress and the transportation of materials around the Mint’s premises.

Read the rest of this article »

The availability of Royal Australian Mint’s silver $1 coin of the 1921 Kookaburra Penny is coming to a close on April 25, 2008. The proof collector coin is minted in 99.9% silver and its inner design is a replica of the 1921 Kookaburra Penny.

The Kookaburra Penny is noted for its square shape and the collector coin takes on that image. The obverse or heads of the coin bears the image of King George V while the reverse or tails side has the image of the ever popular Kookaburra.

Read the rest of this article »

The CoinNews site has added an Australian Silver Coin Calculator, a collector tool that determines the value of silver content within Australian coins.

Although similar to the U.S. Silver Coin Calculator, the Australian version is more dynamic and includes extra features. The calculator:

• Calculates in Australian or American dollars
• Lists the total silver weight of the coins in troy ounces and grams
• Provides a user controlled bid/ask spread
• Includes a Silver Chart that reflects the silver value of coins over time (in Australian or U.S. dollars)

The collector tool provides calculations for silver coinage since 1910 to include:

Read the rest of this article »

The Royal Australian Mint joined the celebratory kick off the 2008 NRL Telstra Premiership season by releasing new collector coins celebrating the centenary of Rugby League.

The Centenary of Rugby League coin series launched last November with the introduction of the $1 Uncirculated coin and is now followed by the $5 Silver Proof and $10 Gold Proof collector coins.

Read the rest of this article »

Queensland, Australia. The Rare Coin Company is poised to set yet another world record when it bids to acquire the very first Australian Commonwealth Banknote ever printed, the 1913 Ten Shilling note.

Rob Jackman, the Company’s founder will attend the International Auction Galleries auction at the Sofitel Hotel Gold Coast in Queensland on Sunday 9th of March 2008 from 3pm. It is estimated that the banknote is valued at $1.3 to $1.4 million dollars and that the auction will attract a number of major coin dealers and private collectors.

Read the rest of this article »

The Royal Australian Mint kicked off the introduction of a new circulating one dollar coin and a series of new collector coins with a gigantic and symbolic coin commemorating the Centenary of Scouts Australia.

The model coin was the largest ever produced by the Mint at an impressive 400 times the size of the normal one dollar circulating coin.

Its unveiling appropriately took place in front of a group of children and young adults who represented various scouting groups across Australia.

Senator the Hon Nick Sherry, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, made several comments at the ceremony.

“Scouts Australia was founded 100 years ago. We all know just how big a part of our culture the Scouts have become since then, with over 60,000 scouts spread across the country.

“Launching this coin is a perfect way for everyone in Australia to remember the achievements and contributions of the scout movement founded by Lord Baden Powell over the past century. The Government is very happy to recognise this incredible contribution and has declared 2008 the Year of the Scout.”

“Today, this giant coin is symbolic of the equally giant contribution that Scouts have made to Australia …"

Read the rest of this article »

It’s rare to find a mint gallery with coin photos, information and prices within a single location.

You can naturally visit world mint websites and find their latest offerings. However, sometimes you really have to search and click around several times in order to drill down and locate a coin’s photo, details and price.

Read the rest of this article »

The Royal Australian Mint has announced the start of the 2008 Polar Series coins, which mark the 4th International Polar Year - a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Read the rest of this article »