NEW COIN COLLECTION IS AN A TO Z OF AUSTRALIANA
HARD currency has got its groove back. After a plunge in popularity in the pandemic, coins are leading the loose change comeback with tomorrow’s release of Australia Post’s new A-Z collection of $1 coins that celebrate great Aussie icons.
Yes, the Great Aussie Coin Hunt is back, with all 26 newly minted coins available at participating post offices, via the Australia Post website and, with luck, in your change.
And the timing could not be better. In research commissioned by the Royal Australian Mint in September and October, 45 per cent of respondents said they would return to using the same amount of cash as prepandemic and 6 per cent said they would use more cash than before, suggesting cash remains a payment type of choice for many Australians.
The research also indicated one in five Australians enjoys collecting coins — and, according to RAM coin designer Bronwyn Scott, the newly released alphabet of icons is intended to delight coin enthusiasts of all ages.
The collection includes favourites such as Sydney Opera House and the koala, plus laugh-out-loud surprises such as flies being thwacked by a fly swot on the F coin and
a cross-looking emu on the E.
“I love how quirky he is,” Ms Scott said. “I feel like emus have a lot of character, so I had fun trying to get that unpredictable quirkiness of the emu. I ended up doing a bit of a stylised thing (with the coins) trying to get that quirky, Australian larrikin vibe.”
Even after eight years in
the job, Ms Scott said the chief challenge in designing each $1 coin remained the minuscule size of her canvas.
“You’ve got a tiny area to fit so much information on. It’s just that balance of keeping it simple … but still getting as much detail and information as you can.”
Lifelong collector Frank
Pauer, vice-president of the Royal Philatelic Society Victoria and the Australian Philatelic Federation, called the new collection and coin hunt “fantastic” and said the joy of collecting was “the thrill of the chase and gathering historical knowledge”.
“A lot of stamps and coins illustrate events, so you learn
a lot about the history and the background,” Mr Pauer said.
“I found that interesting in my younger years, trying to learn more about Australia. The more I got involved with it, I got to know what
Australia is about and what Australian history was about. It connected me.”
Both Mr Pauer and Michael
Zsolt, Australia Post’s philatelic group manager, said collecting was all about storytelling.
“Everything we do is about some sort of story,” Mr Zsolt said. “There’s always a story behind it. It’s not tied to a fad (or) a fashion. It’s tied to Australia’s history so there’s a lot of involvement. People are very dedicated. I don’t like to call it a hobby, because it’s almost a way of life.”
Mr Zsolt — who calls Australia Post’s collector customers “our family” — said nostalgic pastimes such as coin collecting were enjoying a COVID-led resurgence because they were a return to simpler times.
“It’s more than just a collecting hobby. People are engaging with Australia’s history. What the past 12 months have taught us is we really need to be appreciative of what we’ve got.
“Australia Post takes very seriously the fact that we also are charged with recording Australia’s history. Whether that be design trends, key moments, it’s very important to us that we have a reflection of what Australian society is all about.
“We really want to bring Australia back to Australians. So the Great Aussie Coin Hunt gives us a great opportunity to do that.”