It's a coin that shows Queen Elizabeth II ageing gracefully through the ages, a lifetime captured across a width of metal measuring just over three centimetres.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The coin has been released by the Royal Australian Mint to celebrate the late monarch's seven decades of service.
The 50 cent coin design, in both fine silver proof and uncirculated finishes, goes on sale at 8.30am on Thursday.
The new design shows the six portraits or "effigies" of the queen that appeared on Australian coins, from 1953 to 2023.
Royal Australian Mint CEO Leigh Gordon said the coin was a study of graceful ageing by one of the era's most recognisable female figureheads.
"Historically, coins bear witness to a monarch's reign with their royal effigies appearing on the obverse," he said.
"In keeping with that tradition, this exceptional coin showcases the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Effigy by Jody Clark on the obverse.
"The Mint's trademark storytelling is strongly represented on the coin's reverse, which features a central design depicting the first six effigies, fanned above the Queen's royal cypher."
The coin was created in-house by the Mint's design team.
The central image is framed with lily of the valley, one of the Queen's favourite flowers and golden wattle, Australia's national floral emblem.
The portraits on the coin also reflect the history of coins in Australia:
- Mary Gillick designed the first portrait of Her Majesty, which appeared on pre-decimal coinage from 1953 to 1965.
- On Australian decimal coinage, the first portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was designed by Arnold Machin in 1964 for the British Royal Mint. It was released in Australia on February 14, 1966 which preceded its first use on British coins in 1968.
- In 1982, the British Royal Mint conducted a competition for the design of a new effigy. Raphael Maklouf's model was chosen as the most promising, which was then revised and accepted by the Queen for use on circulating coinage in the United Kingdom. This Maklouf effigy was then adopted for use on Australian coinage.
- In 1996, a portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley was chosen and appeared on United Kingdom coinage from 1998. Following earlier conventions, Australia adopted this effigy on some collector coins in 1998 and generally from 1999.
- To commemorate the royal visit in 2000, a portrait by Vladimir Gottwald was approved for a once-only use. Gottwald, a member of the Royal Australian Mint's Design and Engraving Section, became the first Australian designer to have his work on the obverse of an Australian coin since Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal, who sculpted the 1910-1936 effigy of King George V.
- The most recent effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Jody Clark, is the sixth coin portrait to have been created during the Queen's reign. It appeared on Australian coins from 1999 until the Queen's death on 8September 8. 2022.
Following the passing of Her Majesty, the Mint transitioned to the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Obverse. Featuring British engraver Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the Memorial Obverse has one notable addition - the Queen's years of reign, reading "Elizabeth II 1952- 2022". This is the portrait appearing on the obverse of the new coin.
This special-edition coin will be for sale at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra from 8.30am on Thursday, the Mint's Contact Centre on 1300 352 020, or through the Mint's authorised distributors.
