The Perth Mint is offering a Proof Wonders of Australia coin series including 1-ounce gold $100 and 1-ounce silver dollar coins complete with an embedded opal gemstone, celebrating the nation’s outback. 

Australia’s vast and rugged outback is a land of awe-inspiring natural beauty, steeped in rich history and cultural significance. The continent spans a staggering 7.68 million square kilometers, an area comprising deep canyons, arid desert, lush rainforests, and stunning coastlines. Australia is home to between 600,000 and 700,000 species of wildlife, many of which are found only in Australia, making the Australian outback one of the world’s most precious natural treasures.

In celebration of Australia’s wondrous wildlife, the coins’ reverse design, created by Jennifer McKenna, depicts (clockwise from top) a sun with beaming rays, a dingo, a python, a wolf spider, a bilby, two spinifex pigeons, a perentie, two echidnas, a blue tongued skink, two desert tree frogs, a rock wallaby, and two emus. Also in the obverse design are representations of diverse fauna and rock formations. The Perth Mint’s P Mint mark is at top, near the sun, and the weight, purity, and issue date, 2026, are near the bottom.

The design encircles a round opal insert. Opal is known as Australia’s national gemstone. In ancient Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, it was created when a rainbow touched the earth. It is also known to Indigenous people as the “fire of the desert.” Today, Australia produces most of the world’s precious opal, which when cut and polished can be used to create some of the world’s most alluring jewelry pieces.

The Dan Thorne effigy of King Charles III is on the obverse. Mintage limits are 5,000 silver dollar coins and 200 gold $100 coins.

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