50 Cents - Elizabeth II 4th Portrait - Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoo

Part of Perth Mint's ongoing coloured wildlife series, this issue uses pad printing — a process borrowed from industrial manufacturing that transfers ink via a silicone pad onto the coin's surface. The technique allows for photographic colour fidelity but has raised long-term preservation questions among collectors, as the ink layer is vulnerable to humidity and contact damage in ways that enamel is not. Store carefully; the colour is not a coating applied over the metal but sits directly on the relief.