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50 Cents - Elizabeth II 4th Portrait - Bush Babies - Possum
| Issuer | Perth Mint, Australia |
|---|---|
| Year | 2013 |
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| Value | 50 Cents |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse features a vivid, pad-printed polychrome depiction of a baby common brushtail possum perched upon a branch amid leafy vegetation, rendered in a naturalistic style with prominent large brown eyes characteristic of the species. A small insect is depicted in the background, adding depth to the wildlife scene. The Perth Mint's 'P' mintmark appears beneath the branch on which the possum sits. The legend 'AUSTRALIAN POSSUM' is inscribed along the upper border, with the designer's initials 'EM' present in the field. |
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| Additional information |
The "Bush Babies" series was part of Perth Mint's sustained push into the collectible bullion market during the early 2010s, targeting international buyers — particularly in Asia — who had shown strong appetite for wildlife-themed Australian silver. Pad printing, a process borrowed from industrial product decoration, was adopted to achieve color saturation on small raised surfaces that conventional enamel application couldn't reliably reproduce at volume.
The common brushtail possum, despite its ubiquity across suburban Australia, had become a protected species nationally by 1989 — an irony not lost on conservationists given how aggressively it was trapped and exported as a fur commodity through the nineteenth century.