Part of the Royal Australian Mint's ongoing "Celebrating Australia's Backyard Icons" series, this dollar honours the fibreglass roadside giant in Kingston SE, South Australia — a 17-metre crustacean built in 1979 that became one of the country's most photographed tourist stops despite, or perhaps because of, being entirely absurd. Australia's tradition of oversized roadside sculptures, known colloquially as the "Big Things," numbers over 150 sites and has generated genuine academic study as vernacular folk art. The Big Lobster itself briefly faced demolition in 2009 when the seafood restaurant beneath it went into receivership.
Part of the Royal Australian Mint's ongoing "Celebrating Australia's Backyard Icons" series, this dollar honours the fibreglass roadside giant in Kingston SE, South Australia — a 17-metre crustacean built in 1979 that became one of the country's most photographed tourist stops despite, or perhaps because of, being entirely absurd. Australia's tradition of oversized roadside sculptures, known colloquially as the "Big Things," numbers over 150 sites and has generated genuine academic study as vernacular folk art. The Big Lobster itself briefly faced demolition in 2009 when the seafood restaurant beneath it went into receivership.