In most respects it’s a typical Perth Mint product being a 31.1g, 40.6mm silver round and carrying a $1 AUD denomination. Finish isn’t as posh-looking as the equivalent semi-numismatic Koala, Kookaburra or Lunar, but it looks struck to the same high standards in its brilliant uncirculated finish. It should be available soon as it’s started to appear on multiple German dealer websites. It’s highly unlikely these will be available exclusively in one region or even one dealer per region given the ambitious mintage.

The coin’s reverse features a large saltwater crocodile with its mouth open, displaying its sharp teeth. It also features the inscription AUSTRALIAN SALTWATER CROCODILE, the 2014 year-date and coin specifications as well as The Perth Mint’s traditional ‘P’ mintmark.

The coin’s obverse bears the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the monetary denomination.

The coins are available in 500-unit monster boxes or in tubes of 25. Most dealers will also sell them individually for the collectors among you.

The Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), also known as saltie, estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles, as well as the largest terrestrial and riparian predator in the world. The males of this species can reach sizes of up to 6.7 m (22 ft) and weigh as much as 2,000 kg (4,400 lb). However, an adult male saltwater crocodile is generally between 4.3 and 5.2 m (14 and 17 ft) in length and weighs 400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb), rarely growing larger. Females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m (9.8 ft). As its name implies, this crocodile can live in salt water, but usually resides in mangrove swamps, estuaries, deltas, lagoons, and lower stretches of rivers. They have the broadest distribution of any modern crocodile, ranging from the eastern coast of India, throughout most of Southeast Asia, stretching south to northern Australia, and historically ranging as far west as just beyond the eastern coast of Africa and as far east as waters off the coast of Japan.

The saltwater crocodile is a formidable and opportunistic hypercarnivorous “apex” ambush predator capable of taking almost any animal that enters its territory, including fish, crustaceans, reptiles, birds and mammals, including other predators. Due to their size and distribution, saltwater crocodiles are the most dangerous extant crocodilian to humans.

SPECIFICATION