2018-11-06 Tue

The Royal Australian Mint released a new colourful circulating $2 coin featuring the red poppy to honour the brave soldiers who lost their lives in World War I. It’s a part of the annual series of colourful circulation coins that was introduced in 2014, to observe the centennial of World War I.

The coin features a red poppy in such a way that it looks like the first 0 of the number 100. Other inscriptions include the texts 11-11-11 and ARMISTICE. The text “11-11-11” represents the fact that the dreaded war ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

11th November is celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day worldwide. The coin was unveiled on 30th October and was designed with the help of Australian War Memorial officials. Dignitaries from both the organisations were present during the inauguration ceremony that was organised near the 62,000 hand-crafted poppies that are displayed in the Memorial’s Sculpture Garden.

Members of the public were allowed to exchange cash or coins for the new Remembrance Day coin at Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney on 1st November. 40,000 collectable versions of the coin with C Mint mark for Canberra have been issued which can also be purchased for $15 Australian each.

Image Courtesy: The Royal Australian Mint