The Australian two dollar coin denomination was introduced on 20 June 1988, when it replaced the banknote of the same value. The regular reverse design by Horst Hahne features a representation of the head and shoulders of a traditional Australian Aboriginal elder.
The denomination is also extensively used to issue circulating commemorative $2 coins such as this one, many of them coloured.
These two dollar coins mark Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day). Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations member states since the end of the First World War to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November in most countries to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918.
The Royal Australian Mint issued a series of coins commemorating this, starting in 2012, with differently designed and coloured reverses (in some years more than one type): 2012 Remembrance Day (Poppy), 2014 Remembrance Day (Green), 2015 Remembrance Day (Red), 2015 Remembrance Day (Orange), 2017 Remembrance Day (Red), 2017 Remembrance Day (Blue and Green) and 2018 Eternal Flame.
This sixth coloured coin in the series is blue and green and features a wreath of rosemary flowers; rosemary has traditionally been worn on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day as a way to commemorate those who have died in active service and other military operations.
Coins issued in 2017 have now been in circulation for only five years. |