Five Cents 2019 (Fourth Portrait), 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 of the coin depicts an echidna (also known as a spiny ant-eater) seen from below as it rolls into a protective ball.

The denomination numeral 5 [cents] is above the lower half of the animal.

The artist's initials SD (for Stuart Devlin) are below the numeral in (very) tiny letters.

These coins were not included in the annual mint sets for 2019, which included the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing 5 Cents (NCLT) coin instead.

These are the last Australian 5 cent coins featuring the Queen's Fourth Portrait.

On 2 March 2015 the Royal Mint revealed a new effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, which went into production in the United Kingdom that very day. The new portrait was designed by Jody Clark, the first Royal Mint engraver to be chosen to create a definitive royal coinage portrait in over 100 years.

At that time, the Royal Australian Mint decided to continue with the Fourth Portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley. This was changed halfway through 2019; consequently, in 2019 some 5 cent coins were issued with the Fourth Portrait and some with the Fifth Portrait.

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 16.818 mln circulating coins in the 2018-2019 financial year.