2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 Coin
The 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 is a circulating $2 coin with 5.8 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2012
- Circulation mintage
- 5,800,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Aluminum bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 worth?
5.8 million were made, so the 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition
- A mint roll or set coin
- A genuine mint error
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 rare?
- No. 5.8 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 coins were made?
- 5,800,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 made of?
- Aluminum bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel). It weighs 6.6 g and measures 20.5 mm.
- Is the 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 still legal tender?
- Yes. Every $2 coin, colored commemoratives included, is legal tender in Australia.
Why the 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 was made
Remembrance Day falls on 11 November, the anniversary of the Armistice that ended the fighting of the First World War in 1918. Australians mark it with a minute's silence at 11 am and the red poppy has long been its symbol, a flower that bloomed across the churned up battlefields of the Western Front. In 2012 the Royal Australian Mint put that poppy on the $2 coin.
The design came in two forms. Most were struck plain, with the poppy left in the coin's own golden metal and 5.8 million of these went into circulation. A much smaller run of 500,000 had the poppy colored red and that colored coin grabbed nearly all the attention. The plain version tends to be overlooked as a result, yet it is still a commemorative with a lower mintage than most regular $2 dates and almost exactly the same figure as the regular 2012 coin, which reached 5.9 million. Both versions share the 2012 date and the same portrait, so the only difference between them is the color on the petals.
How to recognize it
In place of the usual Aboriginal elder, the reverse shows a single poppy flower as the central design, with no color added. That's the key check: if the petals are plain metal, you have this version and if they're red, you have the colored one. The obverse carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Elizabeth II, with IRB under the neck and the date 2012 in the legend. The coin is the standard $2 size and weight, 20.5 mm and 6.6 g in aluminum bronze, with the same interrupted milled edge. A coin with faint traces of red in the recesses is a worn colored coin, not this one.
2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2 ranks 12th lowest of 13 commemorative $2 releases with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2017 Lest We Forget $2 (3.9 million); the next more common is the 2016 Rio Olympics $2 (10 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2016 Rio Olympics $2 with 10 million, about 1.7 times as many. The scarcest is the 2012 Remembrance Day Red Poppy $2 with 500,000, 12 times fewer than this one.
It was released in 2012 alongside 2 other circulating $2 coin designs: the Remembrance Day Red Poppy (500,000) and the 2012 Australian $2 (5.9 million). 1 of them had a smaller run.
What to check on your 2012 Remembrance Day (uncolored) $2
- Confirm the design: Remembrance Day (uncolored) dated 2012.
- 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.
At 5.8 million, the plain poppy is a lower mintage than most regular $2 dates, though eleven times more common than the red version. Circulated pieces generally trade at face value or a little above and uncirculated coins bring a small premium. Collectors like to keep the plain and red coins together as a pair, which keeps steady interest in the uncolored one. Check the high points of the petals and the Queen's cheek for wear. Bright, unscuffed coins are the ones worth putting in a holder.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 dollars |
| Issuer | Royal Australian Mint |
| Year | 2012 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,800,000 |
| Composition | Aluminum bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel) |
| Weight | 6.6 g |
| Diameter | 20.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Interrupted milling |
Other 2012 $2 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 Australian $2 Coin | 5,900,000 | Face value |
| 2012 Remembrance Day Red Poppy $2 Coin | 500,000 | Collector premium |
Frequently asked questions
How many uncolored 2012 Remembrance Day $2 coins were made?
The plain poppy version had a circulation mintage of 5.8 million. That compares with 500,000 for the red colored version and 5.9 million for the regular 2012 $2 with the Aboriginal elder.
Is my poppy $2 a red poppy coin that has lost its color?
Look closely in the recesses around the petals with a magnifier. Colored coins that have worn usually keep traces of red in the protected areas. If there's no trace of red anywhere, it's the plain version.
Mintage figures: Australian two-dollar coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Australian Mint figures. How we build these pages.