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Australia Koala

2008 Proof Five Dollar

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The Little Dinkums coin collection lovingly celebrates Australia's favourite creatures. The Royal Australian Mint had commissioned artist Ben Hutchings to design six characters for a coin collection named Little Dinkums. They were Petey Platypus, Kip Koala, Kato Cockatoo, Tinga the Tasmanian Tiger, LilyPilly Lizard and finally Binny Bilby. This coin was struck in Gold at a size of just 14mm.The reverse of this coin, designed by the Royal Australian Mint has the cartoon character Kip Koala depicting the Koala. It includes the legend 1/25oz 99.99Au 5 DOLLARS. The obverse features the traditional Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, crowned and right facing and is surrounded by the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2008. This coin, along with the other three, were sold in individual boxes with the cartoon character emblazoned upon it.

The Koala is one of the most lovable creatures in the world. There are actually marsupials and not bears as most people think. They are nocturnal and spend most of their time relaxing in the trees. Koalas are a protected species in Australia, but unfortunately the habitat of the Koala is not. Due to continuing building, many trees are felled and this causes great stress to the Koala. It is researched that there are currently forty to eighty thousand Koalas left in Australia and their numbers dwindle by the day. Probably only between 40,000 to 80,000 koalas remain in Australia.