Fifty Cents 2019 Indigenous Languages, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The obverse shows the crowned mature head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Fourth Portrait"). The Queen wears the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" diamond tiara, a wedding gift from Queen Mary (Her Majesty's grandmother) in 1947 - which she also has on the Machin and the Gottwald portraits.

In small letters below the head, the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley).

Around the effigy is the monarch's legend and the date: ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2019.

The reverse design features a series of vertical wavy lines positioned in an irregular pattern, separated by ornamental design elements including irregular shapes and textured patterns. On eight of the lines, the following inscriptions:
NAMBAL (in Guugu Yimithirr),
WUMARA (in Gurindji),
TJIMARI (in Yankunytjatjara),
NGKWELTYE (in Kaytetye),
MULU (in Yugambeh) ,
WALANG (in Wiradjuri),
BARNDA (in Wirangu),
BAKIR (in Meriam),
AWARNDA (in Anindilyakwa),
BOYA (in Nyungar),
DHINGGARR (in Gathang),
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES,
GUDARU (in Alawa),
WANGARRI (in Warumungu),
PIRRKI (in Kaurna).

The words above - in Aboriginal languages from across Australia - all mean "money". Most indigenous words for money come from words for “stone”, “rock” or “pebble”, no doubt in reference to the size and shape of coins - which is the case with the words in Gurindji, Warumungu, Alawa and Anindilyakwa from the Northern Territory, Nyungar and Yankunytjatjara from Western Australia, Wiradjuri from New South Wales, Wirangu from South Australia and Meriam, Yugambeh and Guugu Yimithirr from Queensland. The Kaytetye (spoken in central Australia) and Kaurna (the indigenous language of Adelaide) use words originally meaning "piece". Gathang, from the Central New South Wales coast, uses dhinggarr: “grey”, perhaps due to the colour of most coins, and walang “head”, presumably in reference to the monarch’s head on the coin.

To the right, the value and denomination FIFTY CENTS. In small letters in the right field, the designer's initials AS (for Aleksandra Stokic).

The coin designs were approved by the Assistant Treasurer in Currency (Royal Australian Mint) Determination (No. 2) 2019 on 26 March 2019; the coins were released on 8 April 2019.

Note that the reverse design is vertical - in other words, the words "FIFTY CENTS" face to the right; if you hold your coin with them facing normally (at the bottom), you might think that you have an error coin with a 90° die rotation but this is not the case.

Production of the coins may be spread over more than one financial year, so that original data may be found in more than one mint report.

The Mint produced 2.070 mln circulating coins in the 2018-2019 financial year.