Australia’s dingo is a free roaming, primitive canine unique to the continent of Australia, specifically the outback.

It’s now the subject of the first coins in the Cute and Cuddly series for Niue, which begins with the 2024 Baby Dingo Pup silver $1 and gold $100 coins.

Captured in a moment of playful innocence, a dingo puppy chases an Australian Cairns Birdwing Butterfly in this charming vignette. Native Australian flora, the Sturt’s Desert Rose, found throughout the mainland Australian outback, further enhances the design.

Dingo details

The dingo’s original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to their wild Asian Gray Wolf parent species, Canis lupus, according to U.S. distributor Talisman Coins.

Since that time, living largely apart from people and other dogs, as well as the demands of Australian ecology, they have developed features and instincts that distinguish them from all other canines, Talisman said.

Australian dingoes maintain ancient characteristics that unite them and other primitive dogs into a taxon named after them, Canis lupus dingo, separate from the domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris. Dingoes are nonetheless dogs and can be domesticated for life with humans and can interbreed with other breeds and subspecies of canines.

As a result of interbreeding with domesticated dogs that arrived from Europe, it is estimated that the majority of modern “dingoes” are descended from those domestic dogs. The number of dingo hybrids had increased significantly in recent decades, and the original dingo is classified as vulnerable. “Pure dingoes” are getting rare and are the subject of much debate and conservation efforts, Talisman said.

The medium-sized canid possesses a lean, hardy body designed for speed, agility and stamina, and genetic evidence suggests no artificial selection over the past five millennia; the dingo therefore represents an early form of dog from 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. They have lived, bred, and undergone natural selection in the wild, isolated from other canids, resulting in an unique canid until the arrival of European settlers with their dogs.

Design details

The obverse of the coins depict the Jody Clark effigy of King Charles III.

Legends and inscriptions indicate the weight, denomination and precious metal content.

The reverse displays the dingo puppy chasing a butterfly through a thicket of desert rose bushes.

The coins are encapsulated inside a clamshell-style presentation case lined with black velvet and satin and protected by a colorful outer cardboard box. An individually-numbered certificate of authenticity is included.

The Proof .999 fine silver $1 coin weighs 31.135 grams and measures 38.6 millimeters in diameter. It has a mintage limit of 1,000 pieces that retail for $109.95 each, with quantity discounts available.

The Proof .9999 fine gold $100 coin weighs 31.135 grams and measures 38.6 millimeters in diameter. It has a mintage limit of 99 pieces that retail for $2,999.95 each.

To order, or learn more, visit the Talisman Coins website, www.talismancoins.com.

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