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100 Dollars - Elizabeth II 6th Portrait - Great Barrier Reef, Domed
| Issuer | Royal Australian Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 2022 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 31.1035 g |
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| Obverse description | Sixth effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, rendered in high relief on the convex dome surface, wearing the George IV State Diadem and the Victorian Coronation Necklace. The portrait is surrounded by stylized ocean waves and coral formations evoking the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. The legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA appears around the effigy, with the engraver's initials JC incuse in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The concave reverse presents a richly detailed and vibrantly colored depiction of Great Barrier Reef marine life, dominated by a large whale shark arching across the central field surrounded by swirling, multi-colored sea fans and coral formations rendered in selective color application of blue, red, and purple hues. In the lower field, sponges, branching coral, and small fish are depicted in fine relief against a darkened background, with a radiant starburst effect in the upper right suggesting sunlight penetrating the ocean surface. The denomination $100 appears in raised numerals at center-right, with the legend GREAT BARRIER REEF arcing along the upper rim and the motto BEAUTY, RICH & RARE along the lower rim, flanked by the date 2022 at the left. |
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| Additional information |
The domed gold format used here was developed jointly by the Royal Australian Mint and several European minting houses over the preceding decade, requiring custom striking equipment to achieve the concave-convex profile without cracking high-purity .999 gold blanks — a metallurgical challenge that kept the format exclusive to premium collector issues. The Great Barrier Reef had been placed on UNESCO's "in danger" watchlist consideration repeatedly since 2011, giving this release an implicit urgency that the Mint's marketing carefully sidestepped.
This is also among the final issues to carry Ian Rank-Broadley's sixth portrait of Elizabeth II before her death in September 2022.