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Australia Frilled Neck Lizard

2013 Proof Two Dollar

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This two dollar proof piece was struck from 0.5 gram of 99.99% pure gold. The reverse features a frilled neck lizard with frill extended and the legend "1/2g.9999 Au". The reverse houses the Ian Rank-Broadly portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II with the legend "ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2013" and the denomination "2 DOLLARS'.

The frilled neck lizard has become an Australian cultural icon featuring in films, as mascots, and of course on the Australian two-cent coin as designed by Stuart Devlin. The fame of the species comes from its extraordinary frill which usually remains folded to its body but is spread to discourage predators (a deimatic display) and during courtship. The lizard is found mainly in northern Australia and also parts of southern New Guinea where it spends most of its time in trees only coming down mainly for food or territorial conflicts. Although a number of introduced species threaten the lizard, such as cats and cane toads, they have stable populations and are not considered to be at risk.