Coins and Australia - Fifty cent 2025 - Australian decimal coins price guide and values

Celebrations

Mackellar - My Country

Mackellar - The Colours of Light

Mackellar - Dawn

Kim the koala

Honours and Awards

The 2025 year sets of this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Australian honours system. First introduced in 1975, by then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, the Australian honours system created an Australian way to celebrate those who have made a positive impact.

In the fifty year since, more than 500,000 people have been recognised. Some are well known, while the vast majority are famous only to their loved ones. The Royal Australian Mint acknowledges these Australians with this commemorative year set.

South Australian Railways 520

No. 520 was built to meet the increasing demand put on the South Australian Railways during the Second World War. Beneath its streamlining is a powerful machine capable of tackling the steep climb through the Adelaide Hills with ease. In 2014, work began restoring No. 520 to operational condition with SteamRanger Heritage Railway.

Beyer-Garratt No. 1009

No. 1009 is the last surviving Queensland Beyer-Garratt, the most powerful steam locomotives to ever run in the Sunshine State. Introduced in the 1950s, No. 1009 hauled both heavy goods and The Midlander passenger train. It is displayed on behalf of Queensland Rail at the Workshops Rail Museum.

Commonwealth Railways G Class G1

Built in 1914 to the design of the NSW P Class, G1 was amongst the largest locomotives operating in Australia at that time. It regularly hauled the Trans-Australian-Express and is the only surviving standard gauge locomotive of the Commonwealth Railways. G1 is now displayed at the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide.

Victorian Railways H220 Heavy Harry

H220 is over 28 metres long, making it the largest steam locomotive built in Australia. Designed to haul The Overland between Melbourne and Adelaide, it was too heavy to cross several bridges on that line. Affectionately nicknamed Heavy Harry, the locomotive is in the collection of the Newport Railway Museum.

Western Australian V Class V1220

Built in 1955, to help rejuvenate the Western Australian Railways after the Second World War, V1220 was large enough to be converted to standard gauge if required. Diesel locomotives forces V1220 into early retirement, and it hauled the very last WAGR steam service in 1972. It is an exhibit at The Railway Museum, Bassendean.

Tasmanian Q Class Q5

Q5 is an example of the first Mountain type steam locomotives introduced to Australia. Built in 1922, Q5 and its classmates handled Tasmania's heaviest goods trains. In the 1960s, the fledgling Tasmanian Transport Museum scrambled to save Q5 from being scrapped. It is displayed at their museum in Glenorchy.

AD60 Class Beyer-Garratt 6029

AD60 Class Beyer-Garratt locomotive 6029 was one of a class of 42 locomotives introduced to NSW in the early 1950s. This powerful freight engine si the largest operating steam locomotive in Australia and is part of the fleet of Transport Heritage NSW. It is used to haul special trains around the state.