| Coin | Fifty Cents 2022 Henry Lawson - The Drover's Wife |
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The Australian 50 cent denomination was first introduced as a silver coin with decimalisation on 14 February 1966, but was changed in 1969 to its current specifications: a large dodecagonal (12-sided) copper-nickel coin; apart from the usual design featuring the Australian Coat of Arms, the denomination is also extensively used to issue circulating commemorative coins with various reverses. It is one of the heaviest coins in regular circulation in the world.
Apart from circulating coins, the Royal Australian Mint has a range of Non-Circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) 50 cent coins issued for collectors, such as this one.
This coin is part of a series featuring themes related to Henry Lawson, and is dedicated to his story The Drover's Wife.
Henry Lawson (1867 - 1922) was a gifted balladist and short story writer with a talent for narrative, atmosphere and humour. Despite the failures of his later years, Lawson remained a popular favourite and he continues to be recognised as a central figure in Australian literary and popular culture.
The Drover's Wife is one of his most famous stories, in which the heroine (who is not named) fights fire and flood, defends herself and her children against interlopers, and in the story's central incident kills the snake which threatens them all.
This coin is in Aluminium Bronze and not copper-nickel as the usual 50 cents circulating piece. No coins of this type were released into circulation. |
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| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin depicts the crowned old bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the Royal Diamond Diadem crown worn for her Coronation (effigy known as the "Fifth Portrait" worldwide but "Sixth Portrait" in Australia, where the Queen's portrait by Vladimir Gottwald was fifth).
The Queen also wears the Coronation Necklace; originally made for Queen Victoria in 1858, it was also worn at the coronations (as Queen's Consort) of Queen Alexandra in 1902, Queen Mary in 1911 and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen mother) in 1937.
Unlike on British coinage, the effigy is "uncouped" (includes the Queen's shoulders) and extends almost to the rim of the coin; consequently, the legend does not run continuously around the rim.
The artist's initials JC (for Jody Clark) are in tiny letters below left.
Around the effigy is the monarch's legend and the date: ELIZABETH II · AUSTRALIA 2022.
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| Reverse | |
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The reverse design of the coin is split in two. In the upper part, it illustrates a scene from Henry Lawson's story The Drover's Wife, with the heroine, her four children and a dog confronting a large snake. In the lower part, she is shown -together with the silhouettes of her four children - with a forest behind her, which is on fire on the left and flooded on the right.
On two lines at centre, the inscription THE DROVER'S WIFE. Above right, the value 50 [cents].
The designer's initials AWB (for Adam William Ball) are below right. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
50 THE DROVER'S WIFE |
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| Edge | Plain | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | Finish: Brilliant Uncirculated.
Packaging: in blister card (5,000 coins) or in three-coin set (35,000 coins).
RAM Product Code: 10856.
Date of issue: 2 June 2022
Issue price: AU$ 20.00 |
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