The Royal Australian Mint will soon release a new commemorative coin which recognizes those who devoted their lives to manning and maintaining lighthouses in Australia and celebrates their contribution to a century of aids to navigation.

When the Commonwealth of Australia officially accepted responsibility for all landfall and coastal lights around Australia, it comprised of 167 lighthouses, 103 of which were manned. With the introduction of solar power, all off grid beacons were converted to electricity. From the 1980’s there was a concerted effort to automate the remaining 41 manned lighthouses. The task was completed on August 22, 1996.

The reverse design of the coin features a lighthouse on a rocky shore with a stylized representation of the light it casts out to sea. The inscriptions include “5 Dollars” and “1 oz .999 Ag”. The obverse of the coin features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.

Each coin is struck in 1 oz of 99.9% pure silver in frosted uncirculated quality with a diameter of 40.00 mm. The mintage is 5,000 pieces.

There is also a $1 uncirculated aluminum bronze version available, which carries a mintage of 30,000 pieces.

Pre-orders for these coins are being accepted at the Royal Australian Mint’s e-shop.

