1999 Australian $2 Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1999 Australian $2 rare?

No. 27.3 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 1999 Australian $2 coins were made?

27,300,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1999 Australian $2 made of?

Aluminum bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel). It weighs 6.6 g and measures 20.5 mm.

Is the 1999 Australian $2 still legal tender?

Yes. Every $2 coin, colored commemoratives included, is legal tender in Australia.

How to recognize it

The 1999 Australian $2 is round, 20.5 mm across and aluminum bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel).

1999 Australian $2 by the numbers

Measured by how many were made, the 1999 Australian $2 ranks 24th lowest of 36 circulation dates of the $2 coin. The next scarcer is the 2007 Australian $2 (26 million); the next more common is the 2002 Australian $2 (29.7 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1988 Australian $2 with 160.9 million, about 5.9 times as many. The scarcest is the 2011 Australian $2 with 1.8 million, 15 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1999 output was 3.1 times the 1998 figure and 4.8 times the 2000 figure.

What to check on your 1999 Australian $2

• Confirm the date 1999 and the portrait on the other side.
• Check the edge: Australian $2 coins have interrupted milling, with sections of reeding separated by smooth gaps.
• Weigh it if you are unsure: a genuine $2 coin weighs 6.6 g and is 20.5 mm across.

Ian Rank-Broadley portrait: the long middle run (1999 to 2019)

From 1999 the Queen appeared in a more mature portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley, wearing the tiara known as the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland. His IRB initials sit under the neck, which is the quickest way to tell his coins from the Maklouf and Clark ones. This portrait stayed on the $2 for two decades, longer than any other on the coin so far. Hahne's reverse carried on untouched. On Australian decimal coins it followed Arnold Machin's portrait of 1966 and Raphael Maklouf's of 1985.

Mintages in this period swing wildly because the Royal Australian Mint strikes to meet demand from the banks. The 2009 date reached 74.5 million, the highest since the launch year, while 2000 managed only 5.7 million. The real standout is 2011 at just 1.8 million, the lowest circulation figure for any $2 date. The 2012 date was also light at 5.9 million and both years have become favorites for people checking their change.

This era also brought color into Australian pockets. In 2012 the Remembrance Day $2 with a red poppy became the first colored coin in the $2 series released for circulation. A steady run of colored designs followed for Anzac anniversaries, sporting events and a children's book. The portrait ended in an unusual way: in 2019 the mint switched to Jody Clark's effigy partway through the year, so that date exists with both portraits.

Mintage chart

Specifications