(Image: Perth Mint)

The Australian Perth Mint released a new 1 oz silver coin featuring the largest bird of prey in Australia, the wedge-tailed eagle, which is also one of the biggest eagles in the entire world. Besides mainland Australia, the wedge-tailed eagles can be seen in Tasmania and southern New Guinea.

The bird has distinctive long and fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail. They have an impressive long wingspan of up to 2.7 meters. They have the capacity to fly tirelessly for hours on end and can reach altitudes as high as 6800 meters.

The new coin is struck in 99.99% pure silver. It has a limited mintage of 10000 coins.

The reverse of the coin portrays a wedge-tailed eagle flying with his wings fully extended. Rays of sunshine can be seen in the background of the eagle. It further shows an inscription of “Australian wedge-tailed eagle, the year-date of issue, fineness, and weight of the coin, as well as the mint’s trademark. The reverse was designed by John Mercanti.

The obverse of the coin features Jody Clark effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II along with the coin monetary denomination.

The coin’s high relief reverse and obverse are minted on concave surfaces.


Source: Perth Mint