The Alphabet Collection was issued by the Royal Australian Mint across 2015–2017 as a direct response to declining interest in circulating coinage among younger Australians. Each letter was assigned a native animal or culturally significant subject, with "K" assigned to the kangaroo — perhaps the least surprising pairing in the entire run. The pad-printing process used for the colour application was relatively novel for Australian circulation coinage at the time, applied directly onto the aluminium bronze planchet rather than through an enamel or cloisonné method.
Individual letters in the series vary considerably in survival rate depending on how many were pulled from circulation by collectors early.
The Alphabet Collection was issued by the Royal Australian Mint across 2015–2017 as a direct response to declining interest in circulating coinage among younger Australians. Each letter was assigned a native animal or culturally significant subject, with "K" assigned to the kangaroo — perhaps the least surprising pairing in the entire run. The pad-printing process used for the colour application was relatively novel for Australian circulation coinage at the time, applied directly onto the aluminium bronze planchet rather than through an enamel or cloisonné method.
Individual letters in the series vary considerably in survival rate depending on how many were pulled from circulation by collectors early.