  
|
 |
|
 |
 
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Dear Collector  |
||
|
Happy New Year and welcome to our February Mint Issue. Over the coming year we will be releasing new and exciting products, one in particular which I will mention in a moment. Whether you are a serious or hobby coin collector, I am sure that each of our coin releases this year will add special value to your collection. Before the Christmas holidays, we officially launched the newest Inspirational Australians coin, which honours Steve Irwin and announced the theme of our 2010 Year Set. To celebrate Steve Irwin's outstanding contribution to wildlife and wilderness conservation we visited Australia Zoo, just after attending the ANDA Show in Robina, on the beautiful sunshine coast in Queensland. We made a presentation of a montage set of coins celebrating Steve Irwin's life to Terri Irwin and then got up-close to some of the local zoo animals, including "Sanchez" the Alligator. Then south, to the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, where we announced that the 2010 Year Set would pay tribute to the 150th anniversary of the Burke and Wills expedition. A gathering of enthusiasts were treated to rare Burke and Wills artefacts which were on display at the library and heard from Jesse Martin, a young, modern day explorer. Following tradition, the Mint Shop opened its doors on 1 January and unveiled its new mintmark coin design which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Australia's numismatic history. Coin sculptor Vladimir Gottwald has recreated portraits of the four monarchs which have appeared on Australian Coinage from 1910 to 2010. |
For the first time, the Mint has released a coin which features King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II together on the reverse. Also in January, the Mint hosted “Striking Art: Lasting Impressions”, a month long exhibition celebrating 20 years of the art of coin and medal design by Wojciech Pietranik. The exhibition gained widespread acclaim from the art community and general public and as a result of its success we hope to host similar exhibitions in the future. Australia Day was celebrated nationally on 26 January 2010 and the Mint marked this historic day by releasing its 2010 Australia Day 50c coin. Not only is this coin available as a selectively gold plated proof and rolled coin product, but it will also go into circulation. We have also designed the certificate of the proof coin with an extra sleeve so you can collect and display the circulating coin alongside and make a commemorative set. But on to the particular release I mentioned at the start of my note to you… I am very excited to announce that for the occasion of the Centenary of Australian Numismatics we have released one of our most highly prized sets - the six coin gold proof set. And to make it even more collectible these coins feature a uniquely Australian effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. Happy collecting Graham Smith |
||
|
|
|
