The red kangaroo that the Queen’s former goldsmith Stuart Devlin drew for the Perth Mint in 1989 remains the face of the silver Australian Kangaroo on the 2021 coin. In Australia Devlin’s name is linked above all with the country’s first decimal coins, whose designs are also his work.

The Kangaroo programme itself traces its lineage to the gold Nugget, with which the Perth Mint entered the world bullion market in 1986; today it is issued in gold, platinum and silver. The silver line has existed since 2015, and since 2016 its mintage has been unlimited.

According to the Mint, 11,735,419 coins dated 2021 were issued, fewer than a year earlier, when the mintage reached 13,169,939. For a date run this is a significant difference between neighbouring dates of the same design.

The reverse carries the kangaroo, the Mint’s P mintmark and the inscriptions AUSTRALIAN KANGAROO and 1oz 9999 SILVER; the obverse shows Jody Clark’s portrait of Elizabeth II with his initials JC. The metal is one troy ounce of 99.99% pure silver, and the face value is 1 dollar.

The coin fills the 2021 slot in the silver Kangaroo date run and sits well beside Australian circulating coins whose first decimal designs came from the same artist.

UNC grade: the coin never circulated, it shows no wear and keeps its mint lustre; only minor storage marks are acceptable.

A themed selection that includes this coin is easy to expand with other items from the VPcoins catalogue.