2016-12-31 Sat

Every year, the first person in line on New Year’s Day gets a chance to strike the first coin of The Royal Australian Mint situated in Canberra. Canberra is the only city in the world with a mint that celebrates New Year earlier than any other city with a mint. So logically, Canberra’s first coin of the year is the world’s first as well.

A teenager named Harley Russo has been winning this opportunity from 2012 till 2015. He waits outside the mint for 4 to 5 days to grab this spot. The first 100 people in line also receive authenticated first-day coins. Russo was offered money to buy his spot, but he turned them down! Russo had other plans though in 2016 and 16-year-old Luke Marshall, of Canberra, won the chance by waiting outside the Mint from Christmas Day. Marshall has been trying for years and has been 7th, 9th, 8th, and 10th in line. Tomorrow at 10 a.m., he would pay the $3 retail price, and strike the first coin of 2017 in the world! .

The design of the coin is not revealed till it is struck, keeping collectors excited. A $1 Holey Dollar was struck in 2013. In 2014, the $1 coin celebrated 100 years of A Voyage to Terra Australis, The 2015 coin celebrated 100 years of the Gallipoli Campaign and the role of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs). The 2016 coin was dedicated to Australia’s first sovereign coin. .

Let’s see what’s in store for 2017 at the Royal Australian Mint! Happy New Year!