Australia's coins win world acclaim
28th November 2001
The 50-cent coin released into general circulation by the Royal Australian Mint to commemorate the Royal Visit in March 2000 has been voted the best circulating coin of the year by the international minting community, in the annual Coin of the Year competition conducted by Krause Publications of the USA.
The Royal Visit coin, which was also released as a proof silver collector coin, was designed by the Mint's Vladimir Gottwald. A unique additional feature of the coin was the one-off portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that appeared on the obverse. This image, also prepared by Vladimir Gottwald, was used instead of the standard Ian Rank-Broadley effigy with the specific approval of Buckingham Palace, and will not be used again on any coin design.
For the first time in the history of the competition, the Mint also won a second award, for 'Most Inspirational Coin'. This was the Paralympic $5 bronze collector coin produced by the Royal Australian Mint as part of the Paralympic Coin Program, a joint program undertaken with The Perth Mint in 2000 on behalf of the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee. This coin, featuring a semi-abstract image of a wheelchair athlete, was designed by the Mint's other acclaimed designer Wojciech Pietranik, designer of the victory medals for the Sydney Olympic Games.
Out of the ten categories for which coins were selected, only the Royal Australian Mint and the United States Mint achieved two awards each. Other awards went to Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Lithuania and Mexico.
In announcing these awards, the Controller of the Mint, Graeme Moffatt, said:
"It is a great honour for the excellence of the Mint's endeavours to be recognised in this way. The Krause Coin of the Year awards are very prestigious, and demonstrate the high regard in which the work of the Royal Australian Mint is held around the world.
The Mint is very small by international standards, but I am proud to say that it has an extraordinary reputation for the quality and innovativeness of its products. These awards reflect what we can achieve, and are a resounding compliment to our designers and all of our other dedicated staff."
Australia's two coins now go forward to compete with the eight other category winners for the ultimate award of "2002 Coin of the Year".
| Coin | Description | Download |
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Royal Visit 50c - Reverse 1843x1756 pixel JPG |
JPG 206kB (Zip) |
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Royal Visit 50c - Obverse 1837x1801 pixel JPG |
JPG 140kB (Zip) |
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Paralympic $5 683x709 pixel JPG |
JPG 33kB (Zip) |