The "6th portrait" designation marks a notable break from convention — most Commonwealth realms updated Elizabeth's effigy roughly every decade, but Australia's fifth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley served from 1999 until her death in September 2022, making the sixth portrait effectively a posthumous issue. The Jody Clark design, already adopted by the Royal Mint in London for circulation coinage in 2015, was not taken up by Australia during her lifetime.
KM#4649a distinguishes this silver proof from the standard circulation fifty-cent dodecagonal, which has carried the same base-metal alloy since 1969.
The "6th portrait" designation marks a notable break from convention — most Commonwealth realms updated Elizabeth's effigy roughly every decade, but Australia's fifth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley served from 1999 until her death in September 2022, making the sixth portrait effectively a posthumous issue. The Jody Clark design, already adopted by the Royal Mint in London for circulation coinage in 2015, was not taken up by Australia during her lifetime.
KM#4649a distinguishes this silver proof from the standard circulation fifty-cent dodecagonal, which has carried the same base-metal alloy since 1969.