Five Cents 2024, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The obverse of the coin displays the bust of King Charles III, which depicts him bare-headed (uncrowned) and wearing a suit and tie, facing left.

Below the shoulder truncation in tiny letters, the artist's initials DT (for Dan Thorne).

Around the rim, the monarch's legend and the date of issue: CHARLES III · AUSTRALIA 2024.

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.

This is the first Australian five cents coin featuring the portrait of King Charles III. His effigy by Dan Thorne was announced for use in Australia on 5 October 2023, but only $1 coins using it were released in 2023.

The 5 cents bearing the King's portrait were first released by the Royal Australian Mint in an online "ballot", where the coins were sold in mint-sealed rolls of 40 coins (to a total face value of $2). There were 11,250 "premium" (head to tails) rolls at $15.00 each, and 11,250 "non-premium" (head/tails or tails/tails) rolls at $12.50 each. The rolls have a tamper-proof hologram sticker.