1 Dollar - Elizabeth II 4th Portrait - Polar Series - Walrus

The Polar Series was part of the Royal Australian Mint's broader push into collectible circulation dollars in the early 2010s, targeting the growing market for themed coinage without moving to precious metals. The walrus piece is one of several animal issues in the run, distinguished from standard dollar production by its pad-printed colour application — a process the RAM had been refining since the mid-2000s and which gives the coin its collector premium over uncoloured counterparts.

Pad printing on circulating-alloy coinage presents adhesion challenges that silver blanks do not, and early RAM colour issues from this period occasionally show ink degradation at the edges.