The first Australian PNC featuring King Charles III*

Front

After a wait of 18 months since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the first Australian King Charles III coin has made it to a Postal Numismatic Cover. The theme is “Out of this World: Australia in Space”. The envelope features a nighttime view of Earth showing the lights and state borders of Australia. As is usual, the coin is on the left, and in this case, the envelope features not one but four stamps, in the top-right.

The reverse contains text:

“Australia has made significant contributions to space exploration, beginning in the 1950s when the Woomera Rocket Range was established. In 1967, the first satellite was launched, the Weapons Research Establishment Satellite (WRESAT). This made Australia the third country in the world to launch a satellite from its own territory. In 1969, Australia played a critical role in the Apollo 11 mission. The Parkes Radio Telescope in New South Wales was used to receive television signals from the Moon and broadcast them to the world. In 1970, the Australian Space Research Institute was established and in 1985 the Aussat system was launched. This provided Australia with its first national satellite communications network and improved communications across the country. The Australian Space Agency was established in 2011, and today Australia is involved in a wide range of space-related activities, including satellite communications, Earth observation, space science, and exploration.

Stamp design: Otto Schmidinger and Christine Stead (Aussat 1986), Jo Muré, Australia Post Design Studio (Earth 2015), Nigel Buchanan (WRESAT 2017), Gary Domoney, VISUA (Parkes Telescope 2019) Stamp images: Leonello Calvetti/Getty Images (Earth 2015); courtesy Defence Science and Technology Group Edinburgh (WRESAT 2017); NASA, 1xpert/Adobe Stock, Yegor Korzh Travel Photography (Parkes Telescope 2019). Cover design: Jason Watts, Australia Post Design Studio Cover images: Sono Creative, ket4up, drgost-all stock.adobe.com”

The envelope also confirms this is an official Australia Post product, lists it as “2024 Issue 4”, lists the mintage as limited to 7,500, and displays the RRP: $18.95.

The inner card shows a nice satellite image of Australia, seen from the North-West, and the curvature of the Earth.

The reverse of the inner card lists the Nominal Specifications of the coin:

• Denomination – $1
• Diameter – 25.00 mm
• Mass – 9.00 g
• Metal – AIBr
• Finish – Uncirculated
• Designer – E. Waterford

The final line confirms that the coin itself, was produced by the Royal Australian Mint.

The coin itself shows various space related items including man in a spacesuit, a rocket, the Moon & Earth with Australia visible.

The text around the edge reads: “ROVERS TECHNOLOGY ROCKETS ASTRONAUTS SATELITES
COMMUNICATIONS GPS ASTRONOMY EXPLORATION DISCOVERY”

With the theme:
“OUT OF THIS WORLD
AUSTRALIA IN SPACE”

The coin contains the “C” mintmark indicating it was minted in Canberra, and EW initials of the Designer: E. Waterford.

The coin was released by the Royal Australian Mint as the first coin struck in 2024. Out of this World: Australia in Space is the theme for the Royal Australian Mint this year. This coin is the one visitors to the mint shop in Canberra can mint themselves. From January to “Spring” (In Australia, that is September – November) 2024, the mint itself is closed for refurbishment. The mint have an exhibition and press at the Canberra Museum and Gallery.

As well as the PNC, the coin itself is available from the mint (Mintage technically unlimited, but basically as many as are made until later 2024), as well as in several sets and precious metal variants. The PNC sold out within a few days.

The obverse of the coin features the uncrowned first portrait of King Charles III facing left.

Text around the edge reads:
CHARLES III
AUSTRALIA 2023
1 DOLLAR
DT

Designer: Dan Thorne

This is slightly different to the circulating coins, which include the denomination on the reverse, NOT the obverse.

*Note from the very first sentence: There were some very limited edition “Impressions” PNCs issued by Australia Post in 2023 featuring King Charles III, these included UK coins. This PNC is the first to feature an Australian coin.