Australia Win “Best Crown Coin” for Curved Earth Silver Coin
Royal Australian Mint’s $5 Earth & Beyond – Curved Earth coin took home the “Best Crown Coin” at the 2020 Coin of the Year (COTY) Awards. The spectacular coin, dated 2018, features a full-color convex surface, which was a first for the Australian Mint.
The Curved Earth coin is the first in the Australian Mint’s “Earth and Beyond” series. The other coins feature the sun and the moon. All three coins are domed — the obverse is concave and the reverse is convex.
The Curved Earth coin shows the earth as seen from space as the Apollo 17 crew left Earth’s orbit for the moon. As described by the Australian Mint:
First in The Earth and Beyond Silver Domed coin series features our beloved home planet, the Earth. The beauty of our planet is displayed in a convex shape, giving a realistic look to the coin. Our planet Earth was thought to have formed around 4.54 billion years ago, with the first photograph of the full view of Earth taken on December 7, 1972. That famous photograph, called the “Blue Marble” was taken as the Apollo 17 crew left Earth’s orbit for the moon, and shows a captivating view of the Earth.
The award-winning coin was designed by artist Aaron Baggio of the Australian Mint. The obverse features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, along with the country, metal content and type. Surrounding the effigy are the planets of our Solar System designed by Royal Australian Mint Artist Aaron Baggio. This side is concave.
The reverse is convex-shaped and depicts colorized image of the Earth as seen from space. The series name, “The Earth and Beyond,” is engraved on the top outer rim, along with the year of issue. The denomination is engraved on the bottom outer rim, along with The Earth’s atmospheric layers.
There is a surprise American connection to this coin. During the acceptance speech at the Award ceremony in Berlin in February 2020, Thomas J. Uram, former ANA Governor and Chair of the U.S. Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee was acknowledged for providing his preference for the selected design to officials of the Royal Australian Mint. The .999 fine Silver coin has a denomination of $5. It has a diameter of 39.62 mm. The mintage is limited to just 5,000 coins.