1 Dollar - Elizabeth II 4th Portrait - Leopard Seal

Part of the Perth Mint's ongoing Australian Antarctic Territory wildlife series, this issue uses pad printing — a process borrowed from industrial manufacturing — to apply color directly onto the struck surface, a technique the Perth Mint was among the first government-affiliated facilities to deploy on bullion and collector coinage in the early 2000s. The leopard seal, one of the apex predators of the Antarctic pack ice, was a logical subject for the series, though its selection also reflected growing scientific attention to Southern Ocean ecosystems following Australia's expanded territorial research commitments in the late 20th century.