Australia 2002 Outback Dollar
2002 was designated as the Year of the Outback, to celebrate that part of Australia that is so internationally famous (but actually lived in by very few Australians). With more than 7000 activities held Australia wide during the year the RAM decided to cash in on the event by releasing the 2002 Year of the Outback dollar.
The Year of the Outback dollar was the circulation dollar for 2002 (34 million minted), as well as being released with a C mintmark (68,447 minted), a B mintmark (36,931 minted), B mintmark (32,698 minted) and a M mintmark (31,694 minted). 12,500 were also minted in sterling silver to proof standards and were available cased individually. The C mintmark was minted in Canberra on the production presses and the gallery press, and was simply a raised C. The other mintmarks were an incuse circle with a raised letter, some produced on the portable press at the respective ANDA shows while the balance were produced in Canberra and available from dealer allocations. The exact quantities produced on the portable presses is uncertain.
Seen above the obverse of the coin depicts the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The reverse is sculpted by Wojciech Pietranik and shows the logo of the Year of the Outback. The mintmark was located to the right of the map of Australia.
For accurate coin mintage data please see the 2002 Australian 1 Dollar Coin Mintages table.
