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Australia Student Design

2004 Fifty Cent

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The student design commemorative issue 50 cent coin had a circulation of over 10 million. Following a long search the winning student, John Serrano, designed the reverse which shows a wombat, lorikeet and a koala along with his own initials JS. The design was then sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald to enable it to be minted. The denomination 50 was also present. The reverse features an Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing with a crown. It also has the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2004. The coin was also struck as a sterling silver proof coin with a circulation of 8,203.

The national Primary School Student Coin Design Competition was conducted during 2003 and more than 2,500 students took part. The eventual winner was John Serrano aged 12. The original intention was to encourage students to participate, but such was the success, it was decided that it should be struck and circulated. Therefore, his initials would be on each of the 10 million coins that were circulated as well as almost 37,000 that were uncirculated. John Serrano also won $10,000 funding for his school, St Peter's Primary School, in Victoria. The concept for the design was to be most in keeping with the theme of Australia. John Serrano's design incorporated three animals which were recognised as representing a history within Australia.