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Australian two-dollar coin
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Australian two-dollar coin
The Australian two-dollar coin is the highest-denomination circulating 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. The only "mint set only" year was 1991.
$2 coins are legal tender for amounts not exceeding 10 times the face value of the coin for any payment of a debt.
In accordance with all other Australian coins, the obverse features the portrait of the reigning monarch, who during the lifetime of the coin has primarily 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. Since 2019, the effigy of Elizabeth II by artist Jody Clark has been released into circulation. In 2024, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, coins with a new obverse featuring the portrait of King Charles III entered general circulation.
Designed by Horst Hahne, the reverse depicts what is meant to be an archetype of an Aboriginal elder. The drawing was based on Ainslie Roberts' drawing of Gwoya Tjungurrayi, also known as "One Pound Jimmy", a Warlpiri-Anmatyerre man of the Northern Territory of Australia. Tjungarrayi was one of the few survivors of one of the last recognised massacres of Aboriginal people by the British – the 1928 Coniston massacre in what was then the territory of Central Australia. The design also incorporates the Southern Cross and native grasstrees.
Coins produced in 1988 and 1989 bear the initials of its designer, Horst Hahne, but they were removed from the design from 1990 onwards.
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. It has been issued in all years since except 1991 and 2023, with an average mintage of 22 million coins per annum from 1989 to 2008.
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.
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Australian two-dollar coin AI simulator
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Australian two-dollar coin
The Australian two-dollar coin is the highest-denomination circulating 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. The only "mint set only" year was 1991.
$2 coins are legal tender for amounts not exceeding 10 times the face value of the coin for any payment of a debt.
In accordance with all other Australian coins, the obverse features the portrait of the reigning monarch, who during the lifetime of the coin has primarily 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. Since 2019, the effigy of Elizabeth II by artist Jody Clark has been released into circulation. In 2024, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, coins with a new obverse featuring the portrait of King Charles III entered general circulation.
Designed by Horst Hahne, the reverse depicts what is meant to be an archetype of an Aboriginal elder. The drawing was based on Ainslie Roberts' drawing of Gwoya Tjungurrayi, also known as "One Pound Jimmy", a Warlpiri-Anmatyerre man of the Northern Territory of Australia. Tjungarrayi was one of the few survivors of one of the last recognised massacres of Aboriginal people by the British – the 1928 Coniston massacre in what was then the territory of Central Australia. The design also incorporates the Southern Cross and native grasstrees.
Coins produced in 1988 and 1989 bear the initials of its designer, Horst Hahne, but they were removed from the design from 1990 onwards.
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. It has been issued in all years since except 1991 and 2023, with an average mintage of 22 million coins per annum from 1989 to 2008.
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.