Australian two-dollar coin

The Australian two-dollar coin is the highest-denomination coin of the Australian dollar. It was first issued on 20 June 1988, having been in planning since the mid-1970s. It replaced the Australian two-dollar note due to having a longer circulatory life.[1] The only "mint set only" year was 1991. The one-dollar and two-dollar coins are legal tender up to the sum of not exceeding 10 times the face value of the coin concerned.[2]

Two Dollars

Australia
Value	2.00 AUD
Mass	6.60 g
Diameter	20.50 mm
Thickness	2.80 mm
Edge	interrupted milled 20 notches
Composition	92% Copper, 6% Aluminium, 2% Nickel
Years of minting	1988–present
Obverse
Design	Queen Elizabeth II
Designer	Ian Rank-Broadley
Design date	1999
Reverse
Design	Male Aboriginal Elder
Designer	Horst Hahne
Design date	1987

Design

In accordance with all other Australian coins, the obverse features the portrait of the reigning monarch, who during the lifetime of the coin has only been Queen Elizabeth II. From 1988 to 1998 the portrait of her was by Raphael Maklouf before being replaced in the following year by one sculpted by Ian Rank-Broadley.[3] Since 2019, the effigy of Elizabeth II by artist Jody Clark has been released into circulation.

Designed by Horst Hahne, the reverse depicts an Aboriginal Elder, a Walpiri-Anmatyerre man of the Northern Territory of Australia, inspired by an Ainslie Roberts drawing of Gwoya Jungarai (Tjungarrayi) known as One Pound Jimmy.[4][1] Tjungarrayi was one of the only survivors of one of the last recognised massacres of Aboriginal people by the British- the 1928 Coniston massacre in central Australia. However, the design is ‘not intended’ to depict any person in particular.[5] The design also incorporates the Southern Cross and native grasstrees. The initials of its designer, Horst Hahne, were removed from the design from 1990 onwards. 1988 and 1989 are the only year dated two dollars with the initials.[1]

All two-dollar coins have been struck at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra. 160.9 million coins were minted in the first year of issue.[1] It has been issued in all years since except 1991,[1] with an average mintage of 22 million coins per annum from 1989 to 2008.

The 2012 Remembrance reverse $2 coin.

In 2012, the Australian mint released the first ever different designed two-dollar coin. It features a poppy flower, with the words Lest we Forget and Remembrance Day in the background of the coin. There had been no commemorative designs for this issue, until the 2012 Remembrance coin was minted. Along with the 2012 Remembrance coin was a coin with the same text and image but the centre poppy was red with a black centre. It was therefore the first coloured circulating coin in Australia.

On 21 June 2013, a third commemorative two-dollar coin was launched by the Royal Australian Mint. This coin, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, featured a purple circle bordering St Edward's Crown.[6]

As a part of the 100 years of Anzac Day a coin programme launched by the Royal Australian Mint, two separate coloured coins were released. The first was released in 2014, it featured two green circles in the middle of the coin and a dove in the centre. The word Remembrance was stretched across the top of the coin. In 2015, the fourth circulating coloured coin in Australia was released. It includes red stripes much like the 2013 Queen Coronation coin. It also features five crosses amongst poppies and the words Lest we Forget in the centre. A fifth coin was also released in 2015. It is sunset orange and it features a sun in the centre with birds and the Flanders Field poem in the background.

In 2016 a commemorative coin was issued for the Rio Olympic Games. Five Coins were issued for circulation via Woolworths and were made available in packs of the 5 coins on the 27 July 2016. A Paralympic Games coin was issued on the 22 August 2016.[7]

When the coin was introduced there were complaints that the coin was too small for its value and was easily lost, or counterfeited by placing two 5 cent pieces together and colouring them gold. However, with an uninterrupted milling on the 5-cent, and the 2 dollars having 5 grooves in 4 lots separated by 7 mm length of the side, identification is easy. It has the same size and milling as the 10 Swedish kronor.

Its smaller size in comparison to the $1 coin can lead to confusion for visitors from outside Australia.

Minting figures

The coin has only been struck at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra, the nation's capital. The only year without production was 1991 (due to the large number issued for the coin's introduction in 1988).[1]

Year	Mintage
1988*	160,900,000
1989*	31,600,000
1990	10,300,000
1991	-
1992	15,500,000
1993	4,900,000
1994	22,100,000
1995	15,500,000
1996	13,900,000
1997	19,000,000
1998	8,700,000
1999	27,300,000
2000	5,700,000
2001	35,600,000
2002	29,700,000
2003	13,700,000
2004	20,000,000
2005	45,500,000
2006	40,500,000
2007	26,000,000
2008	47,000,000
2009	74,500,000
2010	36,500,000
2011	1,800,000
2012	5,900,000
2013	35,100,000
2014	39,900,000
2015	22,000,000
2016	12,900,000
2017	16,400,000
2018	14,600,000
2019	IRB 9,000,000 JC 2,000,000
"*" denotes that coins were minted with the designer's initials
References: [1]

Commemorative coins

Year	Subject	Colours/Features	Mintage
2012	Poppy	None	5,800,000
		Red	500,000
2013	60th Anniversary of Queen's Coronation	Purple	1,000,000
2014	Remembrance Day	Green	1,850,000
2015	100 Years of ANZACs	Red	1,460,000
	In Flanders Field	Orange	2,150,000
2016	50 Years of Decimal Currency	Pre-decimal Crown on obverse	2,880,000
	2016 Rio Olympics**	Blue	2,000,000
		Black
		Red
		Yellow
		Green
	2016 Rio Paralympics	Green/Yellow/Red/Blue
2017	Lest We Forget	Blue/Green/Yellow	3,900,000
	Possum Magic**	Pink/Purple/Orange/Blue	N/A
		Red/Orange/Purple/Yellow/Blue
		Blue/Navy/Pink/Orange/Green
	Remembrance	Green/Purple rosemary.	2,100,000
2018	2018 Commonwealth Games	Red	TBA
		Green
		Blue
	Eternal Flame	Blue/Orange	3,400,000*
	2018 Invictus Games	None	TBA
2019	Armistice of 11 November 1918	Red	TBA
	Mr. Squiggle**	Turquoise/Yellow/Red	TBA
		Yellow/Orange/Green
		Pink/Orange/Green
		Blue/Black/White
2020	ICC Women's T20 World Cup	Yellow/Blue/Purple	TBA
	30th Anniversary of National Police Remembrance Day	Blue/White	TBA
"*" denotes partial numbers - total production to be confirmed
"**" denotes release through Woolworths Supermarkets
References: [1][7][8][9]

See also

• Coins of the Australian dollar

References

1. "Two Dollars". Royal Australian Mint. Australian Government. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
2. "RBA Banknotes: Legal Tender". banknotes.rba.gov.au. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
3. "Heads or Tails". Royal Australian Mint. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
4. Ian W. Pitt, ed. (2000). Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values (19th ed.). Chippendale, NSW: Renniks Publications. ISBN 978-0-9585574-4-3.
5. Royal Australian Mint - Frequently Asked Questions - About Australian Coins
6. "Governor-General launches Australia's first purple striped coin".
7. "Woolworths shoppers win gold with exclusive Olympic coin launch" (Media release). Royal Australian Mint. Australian Government. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
8. Jacka, Monty (13 February 2019). "He's Mr Squiggle, he's back and on a coin near you". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
9. "Mr Squiggle & Friends 2019 Coin Collection". Woolworths. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

External links

• List of Australian $2 circulating coins
• Australian Decimal Currency