To celebrate the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the Royal Australian Mint launched a series of limited edition Australian Olympic and Paralympic circulating commemorative $2 coins.
The collection includes five Australian Olympic coins, each designed to showcase one of the Olympic Rings (with a distinctive striped circle around the centre, coloured as the respective Olympic ring: blue, black, red, yellow and green), and one Australian Paralympic coin, Australia's first multi-coloured $2 coin.
Interestingly, the coins were released into circulation exclusively through the Woolworths chain of supermarkets, with customers receiving them in their change only (one colour every week; the red coins were released on 1 August 2016). A limited number were also issued in special folders (just the five coloured coins; the Paralympic multi-coloured coin was issued in separate card).
Coins issued in 2016 have now been in circulation for only five years. |