Gold Tenth-Ounce 2015 Kangaroo, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The Australian tenth-ounce gold piece (abbreviated as 1/10 oz and designated with Au for "gold") is a bullion coin format. Uniquely, in Australia there are two mints authorised to strike legal tender: the Royal Australian Mint (which also makes the country's circulating coinage) and the Perth Mint which only makes collector and bullion coins, as well as other bullion products.

The first coins in this format were issued by the Perth Mint in what was then called the Australian Nugget series - named after the natural gold nuggets featured on the reverse. However, the series soon started featuring kangaroos instead, and was eventually renamed to Australian Kangaroo.

This coin is part of a long-running series by the Royal Australian Mint depicting the Australian national animal - the kangaroo.

The design is the third and final release in the Explorers' First Sightings mini series, and is based on a hand coloured engraving by Vincent Woodthorpe’s hand-coloured engraving as featured in "A Voyage to Botany Bay".

Before they captured the hearts of generations of Australians, kangaroos caught the attention of early explorers. These curious creatures were depicted in words and artworks which seem inaccurate today, but are filled with the beauty of these animals capturing people’s imaginations.

Vincent Woodthorpe’s hand-coloured engraving was published in George Barrington’s "A Voyage to Botany Bay", where he described kangaroos as, "about the size of a common deer, of a dark tan colour... its hind legs are much longer than the fore, and with them they leap and spring forward with amazing rapidity.”