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Commemorative coins of Australia facts for kids

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Coins of the Australian dollar are circulated with different designs depicting various anniversaries or significant Australian events, these differing coin designs being labelled Australian commemorative coins. Typically, only the 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 coins have been minted in commemoration.

2 dollar coin

Australia's first commemorative $2 coin was released in 2012 to commemorate Remembrance Day. It features a poppy in the centre on a background of microtext, reading: "remembrance day" and "lest we forget". As Canada also has coloured circulating coins, Australia is now the second country to do so.

Year Issued Commemorative Subject Total in set Reverse Designer Reverse Design Mintage Figures
2012 Remembrance Day – Red Poppy 1 Aaron Baggio Coloured red poppy centre on microtext background. 503,000
Remembrance Day – Gold Poppy 1 Aaron Baggio Non-coloured poppy centre on microtext background. 5,799,000
2013 60th Anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia 1 Aleksandra Stokic Concentric purple stripes and a central design feature of St Edward's Crown. 995,000
2014 Remembrance Day – Dove 1 Royal Australian Mint Designed to commemorate Remembrance Day with a dove and olive branch surrounded by concentric green circles and rays of sunlight. It was inspired by the Rising Sun badge. 1,856,000
2015 ANZAC Cove – Lest We Forget 1 Aleksandra Stokic Designed to commemorate 100 years since the ANZAC Cove landing. Poppies and graves surround a red concentric circle encapsulating the words "Lest We Forget". 1,466,000
Flanders Field 1 Aleksandra Stokic Designed to commemorate the poem In Flanders Fields. Sculpted larks surrounding the orange coloured rings representing the sunset glow. 2,151,000
2016 50th anniversary of decimal currency 1 G. K. Gray 2016 obverse design to celebrate the 50th anniversary of decimal currency. 2,885,000
Australian Olympic Team 6 Bronwyn King Released in partnership with Woolworths. Six versions were released, featuring the emblem of the Australian Olympic team with the various coin colours; blue, black, red, yellow, green, as well as a Paralympics coin. 12,000,000 (2,000,000 of each)
2017 War Memorial Dome – Lest We Forget 1 Tony Dean Depiction of Napier Waller's mosaic from the Australian War Memorial's Hall of Memory. 3,975,000
Remembrance Day – Rosemary Sprig 1 Aleksandra Stokic Designed to commemorate Remembrance Day. Inner circle containing rosemary, surrounded by circle of pad printed rosemary leaves and flowers in green and purple. The word "Remembrance" is intertwined through the rosemary leaves. 2,122,000
Possum Magic 3 Three Possum Magic coins minted; 'Sad, invisible Hush', 'Hush sees her tail' and 'Hush visible again'.
2018 Eternal Flame – Lest We Forget 1 Bronwyn King Depiction of the eternal flame from the Australian War Memorial. 5,400,000
Invictus Games 1 Aleksandra Stokic (initials on coin) Commemorating the 2018 Invictus Games, hosted in Sydney, Australia. Depicts the side view of an athlete in a wheelchair. 2,100,000
Armistice 1 Tony Dean (initials on coin) Designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of 11 November 1918. Depicts the number 100 with a poppy in the middle zero. 1,658,000
Australian Commonwealth Games Team 3 Emblem of the Australian Commonwealth Games team and their blue, green and gold colours.
2019 Centenary of Repatriation 1 Adam William Ball (initials on coin) Old style Australian Defence Force badge surrounded by poppy pettles. The words "ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF REPATRIATION" surround the design. 2,127,000
Police Remembrance 1 Adam William Ball (initials on coin) Standardised seven-pointed star police badge with inner circle depicting a crown surrounded by ring of blue and white checkered tape. 2,000,000
Rugby Union 1 Colourised green and gold ring surrounding a wallaby holding a ball with "Wallabies Australia" on the outside.
Mr Squiggle 4 Four coins minted featuring 'Mr Squiggle', 'Bill the Steam Shovel', 'Gus the Snail' and 'Blackboard'.
2020 Australian Olympic Team 6 Emblem of the Australian Olympic team and their blue, green, gold, red and black colours and an additional coin for the Paralympics.
ICC Women's T20 World Cup 1 Royal Australian Mint Released in partnership with Woolworths. Designed to commemorate the hosting of 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia. Depicts a female cricketer in front of stumps, surrounded by a coloured circle. 2,182,000
Anniversary of the End of World War II 1 Tony Dean (initials on coin) Designed to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the End of World War II. A tri-coloured circle of green, blue and white representing the three armed forces involved in WWII is superimposed over a peace dove flying over a part of the globe with Australia visible on the bottom. 600,000
Firefighters 1 Aleksandra Stokic (initials on coin) Depicts a male and female firefighter standing back to back fighting a fire. An orange coloured ball of flame is superimposed in the centre. The word "FIREFIGHTERS" is placed at the bottom. 1,600,000
2021 Indigenous Military Service 1 Chern’ee Sutton The inner circle features a black handprint and is surrounded by three rows of dots in the colours of the Defense Forces Tri-Service Flag. The outer circle contains various Aboriginal objects such as spears. 1,000,000
The Wiggles 4 30th anniversary of the Wiggles. Four coins; 'Captain Feathersword', 'Wags the Dog', 'Henry the Octopus' and 'Dorothy the Dinosaur'.
Ambulance Services 1 Aaron Baggio The coin honours the 33,000 paramedics who worked in the various ambulance services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Depicts a male and female paramedic attending a patient on a stretcher. A green ring in the middle contains the Maltese cross.
Aboriginal Flag 1 Harold Thomas Designed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Australian Aboriginal Flag. 2,000,000
2022 Australian Frontline Workers 1 Adam William Ball Designed to honour frontline workers who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. A ring of 12 pictograms of frontline workers are depicted on the coin.
Honey Bee 1 Aleksandra Stokic Two honey bees sit on a sphere with honeycomb shapes on the surface, surrounded by flowers and branches from a wattle tree.

1 dollar coin

Not all years have issues for circulation with 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 2012 only in mint packs. Issue 1984, 1985, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 are the only issue with the Kangaroo portrait, however, the 2007 $1 with the kangaroo was also minted, but only for mint sets.

Year Issued Commemorative subject Reverse designer Reverse design Mintage Figures
1986 International Year of Peace Horst Hahne Hands holding a dove 25,100,000
1988 First Fleet Bicentenary (200 years since English colonisation) Stuart Devlin Aboriginal design of a Koori Kangaroo 20,400,000
1993 Landcare Australia Vladimir Gottwald Wavy lines and hands shaping Australia 15,000,000
1996 Sir Henry Parkes Centenary Wojciech Pietranik Portrait of Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), "Father of Federation" 26,200,000
1997 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Birth Centenary (coin B) Wojciech Pietranik Portrait of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897–1935) and plane 24,381,000
1999 International Year of Older Persons Wojciech Pietranik International Year of Older Persons logo "towards a society for all ages" 29,218,000
2001 Centenary of Federation Wojciech Pietranik Centenary of Federation logo 27,905,390
International Year of the Volunteer Wojciech Pietranik International year of volunteers logo 6,000,000
2002 Year of the Outback Wojciech Pietranik Year of Outback logo 35,373,000
2003 Australia's Volunteers Wojciech Pietranik Stylised spiral roll symbolising the shape of the outline of Australia 4,149,000
Centenary of Women's Suffrage Vladimir Gottwald Representation of the female figures in the suffrage banner by Dora Meeson Coates 10,007,000
2005 60th anniversary of the end of World War II Wojciech Pietranik The Dancing Man 34,200,000
2007 APEC Australia 2007 Wojciech Pietranik Logo/Symbol of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum made up of a 7 pointed star itself made from 21 boomerangs 20,100,000
2008 Centenary of Scouts Australia Caitlin Goodall Depiction of the Australian spirit flame, the Australian Scout symbol which resembles the international Scouting symbol, the fleur-de-lis, incorporating the southern cross 17,200,000
2009 Centenary of Commonwealth Age Pension Wojciech Pietranik Six adults and five children depicted representing pensioners or people dependent on age pensions 10,158,000
2010 Centenary of Girl Guides Australia Wojciech Pietranik Depiction of the Australian Girl Guides Symbol which is the Girl Guides Trefoil with a 7 pointed Star in the top leaf of the Trefoil 12,585,000
2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Tim Leaversuch Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011, Perth, Western Australia 9,397,000
2014 ANZAC Centenary Logo of the ANZAC centenary. Australian soldier with head bowed and rifle reversed in solemn reflection 23,000,000
2015 ANZAC Centenary Logo of the ANZAC centenary. Australian soldier with head bowed and rifle reversed in solemn reflection Not Available
2016 ANZAC Centenary Logo of the ANZAC centenary. Australian soldier with head bowed and rifle reversed in solemn reflection
50th anniversary of Decimal Currency Stuart Devlin 2016 obverse design to celebrate the 50th anniversary of decimal currency
2017 ANZAC Centenary Logo of the ANZAC centenary. Australian soldier with head bowed and rifle reversed in solemn reflection
2018 ANZAC Centenary Logo of the ANZAC centenary. Australian soldier with head bowed and rifle reversed in solemn reflection
2020 Centenary of Qantas Logo of Centenary of Qantas
2020 Donation Dollar A dollar designed to be donated

50 cent coins

Year Issued Commemorative subject Reverse designer Reverse design Mintage Figures
1970 Bicentenary of the exploration of the eastern coast of Australia by James Cook Stuart Devlin Portrait of Captain Cook with Australian map 16,548,000
1977 Silver Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia Stuart Devlin Silver Jubilee design 25,067,000
1981 Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer Stuart Devlin Portraits of Prince & Princess of Wales 20,000,000
1982 XII 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane Stuart Devlin Commonwealth Games Theme 49,610,200
1988 First Fleet Bicentenary 1788-1988 Michael Tracey Ship 8,100,000
1991 25th Anniversary of Decimal Currency George Kruger Gray & Horst Hahne Merino ram's head 4,700,000
1994 International Year of the Family Carolyn Rosser Family 20,876,100
1995 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II Louis Laumen & Horst Hahne Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop 15,869,200
1998 Commemorating 200 years since the discovery of The Bass Strait in 1798 by Matthew Flinders who named the Strait after his colleague George Bass Vladimir Gottwald Portrait of Bass & Flinders 22,389,200
2000 Millennium Year 2000 Vladimir Gottwald Stylised Australian flag 16,630,000
Royal visit, also featuring a commemorative portrait of the Queen on the obverse. Vladimir Gottwald Flag pole at Parliament House 5,145,000
2001 Centenary of Federation – Australia 43,149,600
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – New South Wales William Applegate Gullick. New South Wales Coat of Arms 3,042,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – Australian Capital Territory 2,000,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – Queensland 2,320,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – Victoria 2,800,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – Northern Territory 2,080,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – Western Australia 2,400,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – South Australia 2,400,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – Tasmania 2,160,000
Centenary of Federation – States & Territories – Norfolk Island 2,160,000
2002 Year of the Outback Wojciech Pietranik 11,507,000
2003 Australia's Volunteers Vladimir Gottwald 13,927,000
2004 Student Design Vladimir Gottwald & Student John Serrano, St Peter's Primary School, East Keilor Animals: Wombat, Koala and Lorikeet 10,577,000
2005 Remembrance: 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II Wojciech Pietranik Soldier silhouettes by a grave 21,033,000
Student Design – XVIII 2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne 21,000,000
2010 Commemorating Australia Day 2010 Vladimir Gottwald 11,452,000
2014 50th anniversary of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies – AIATSIS AIATSIS logo, based on a shield created by the Uw Oykangand people of North Queensland. 3,000,000
2016 50th anniversary of Decimal Currency 2016 obverse design to celebrate the 50th anniversary of decimal currency
2017 25 Years – Mabo Decision & 50 Years – 1967 Referendum Depiction of Eddie Mabo and Referendum How to Vote card from 1967
2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages Features the words "International Year of Indigenous Languages" amidst 14 indigenous words that mean "money"
2022 Australian Signals Directorate's (ASD) 75th anniversary ASD cryptographic experts collaborated with the Royal Australian Mint to design the coins unique and enigmatic code Features encrypted text:

"WE ARE AUDACIOUS IN CONCEPT AND METICULOUS IN EXECUTION FIND CLARITY IN 7 WIDTH X 5 DEPTH" using Atbash cipher. "BELONGING TO A GREAT TEAM STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE XOR HEX A5D75" encrypted with columnar transposition cipher. "For 75 years the Australian Signals Directorate has brought together people with the skills, adaptability and imagination to operate in the slim area between the difficult and the impossible." encrypted with bitwise XOR A bonus message encrypted with visual differences in the ciphertext font.

20 cent coin

Year Issued Commemorative subject Reverse designer Reverse design Mintage Figures
1995 50th Anniversary of the United Nations Horst Hahne UN emblem 4,835,000
2001 Tribute to Sir Donald Bradman Vladimir Gottwald Donald Bradman in cricket gear, circular lettering 10,000,000
Centenary of Federation – New South Wales Student Joseph Neve from the Bellingen High School NSW emblem 3,202,500
Centenary of Federation – Australian Capital Territory Student Stacy Jo-Ann Paine from the Caroline Chisholm High School Student Design 2,100,000
Centenary of Federation – Queensland Student Jenifer Gray from the Ingham State High School Student Design 2,300,000
Centenary of Federation – Victoria Students Ryan Ladd & Mark Kennedy from the Lara Lake Primary School Student Design 2,900,000
Centenary of Federation – Norfolk Island Student Megan Cunnings from the Norfolk Island Central School Student Design 2,200,000
Centenary of Federation – Northern Territory Student Lisa Brett from the Leanyer School in Darwin Student Design 2,100,000
Centenary of Federation – Western Australia Student Janice Ng from the Forrestfield Senior High School Student Design 2,400,000
Centenary of Federation – South Australia Student Lisa Murphy from the Yankalilla Area School Student Design 2,400,000
Centenary of Federation – Tasmania Student Abbey MacDonald from the Launceston Church Grammar School Student Design 2,200,000
2003 Australia's Volunteers Vladimir Gottwald 7,574,000
2005 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II Vladimir Gottwald WORLD WAR 1939-1945 COMING HOME lettering. 33,500,000
2010 The Australian Tax Office Centenary 2010 11,575,000
2011 Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton 10,123,000
International Women's Day 100th anniversary 1911-2011 6,773,000
International Year of Volunteers Plus 10 6,111,000
2013 Canberra Centenary Aerial view of Canberra City layout 6,083,000
2016 50th anniversary of Decimal Currency 2016 obverse design to celebrate the 50th anniversary of decimal currency
2022 90th Anniversary of ABC Aleksandra Stokic

10 cent coin

Year Issued Commemorative subject Reverse designer Reverse design Mintage Figures
2016 50th anniversary of decimal currency 2016 obverse design to celebrate the 50th anniversary of decimal currency

5 cent coin

Year Issued Commemorative subject Reverse designer Reverse design Mintage Figures
2016 50th anniversary of Decimal Currency Stuart Devlin 2016 obverse design to celebrate the 50th anniversary of decimal currency
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