Australia: RAAF centenary coins, “Heroe of the skies”

To welcome in the New Year, the Royal Australian Mint has unveiled the new theme for the 2021 Gallery Press and Mintmark Suite coins.

The highly anticipated theme – Centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force – will be featured on the coins pressed on the Mint’s public gallery press throughout the year.

Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld AO DSC, the Chief of Air Force, joined Royal Australian Mint staff onsite in Canberra to unveil the theme and press the first coin of 2021.

“The opportunity to have Air Force members and aircraft featured on the 2021 Royal Australian Mint coin sets, is a superb way to honour the sacrifice and service of our people over the past 100 years.

“Air Force’s contribution to the Australian Defence Force is one to be commemorated, particularly for our people serving today and as we look forward to continuing to evolve into the future.”

Air Marshal Hupfeld also announced Lorraine Edgar from Charleville, Queensland as the lucky winner of the Mint’s nationwide First Coin of the Year online ballot.

As the winner of the First Coin of the Year, Ms Edgar will received a unique, one-of-a-kind coin set that includes the coin pressed by Air Marshal Hupfeld, along with the ‘C’ Mintmark and Privy coins, a Silver Proof coin and a certificate authenticating the coin.

The First Coin of the Year event is an annual tradition that sees keen coin collectors line up outside the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra on New Year’s Day in the hope that will get to press the first coin of the year.

It should be noted that the launch of this series follows by a few weeks the announcement of the appointment of the new CEO of the Royal Australian Mint, Mr Leigh Gordon, himself a former fighter pilot.

He will take office on February 1, 2021.

Until recently, Mr Gordon was a member of the Defence Senior Leadership Group and worked in the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group of the Ministry of Defence.

Previously, he was the Chief of Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) for the Royal Australian Air Force.

As a senior member of the Royal Australian Air Force, Mr. Gordon managed complex projects, including as head of the Joint Strike Force Division and the Aerospace Systems Division.

He retired from active service with the Air Force on November 1, 2019 after a 37-year career with the Air Force.

Mister Leigh Gordon, new RAM CEO

Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams

In 2021, the Royal Australian Air Force celebrates its centenary. Sir Richard Williams is considered one of the founding fathers of the RAAF. He was born in 1890 in Moonta Mines, South Australia.

Williams was the first military officer to qualify as a pilot in Australia and served in World War I from 1914 to 18.

He was also the first RAAF Air Marshal and held leadership positions in both military and civil aviation.

Material: gold

Yearmark: 2021

Face value: AUD 10

Quality: proof

Diameter: 17.53mm

Weight: 1/10oz

Mintage: 2021

Privy Mintmark: C (Camberra)

Wing Commander Robyn Williams

As the Royal Australian Air Force celebrates its centenary, the role of women has changed.

Robyn Williams was one of the first women to get her wings in the RAAF when she began her pilot training in 1987.

Wing Commander Williams became a flight instructor and test pilot. As a test pilot, she flew 20 different aircraft and spent five years testing the C-130J Super Hercules in Atlanta, USA.

Yearmark: 2021

Face value: AUD 1

Quality: proof

Diameter: 25.00mm

Weight: 11.66g

Material: Silver

Mintage: 5 000

Privy Mintmark: C (Camberra)

Len Waters

During the Second World War, Len Waters enlisted in the RAAF on 24 August 1942. First trained as a flight engineer, he was then accepted for pilot training.

Assigned to the 78th Squadron of the RAAF, he served in the South West Pacific area in 1944-45, first at Noemfoor, then at Morotai and Tarakan in what is now Indonesia.

At the controls of a Kittyhawk P-40N fighter called by chance Black Magic, he flew 41 attack missions against fortified Japanese positions, and 54 other operational flights.

Yearmark: 2021

Face value: AUD 1

Quality: UNC

Diameter: 25mm

Weight: 9g

Material: copper nickel

Mintage: 20 000 coinsets

Sources: Royal Australian Mint (RAM) and NUMISMAG.