Bright Ideas coins from the Royal Australian Mint: available from 8.30am today
The 2026 Bright Ideas collection from the Royal Australian Mint is available here at our Mint Coin Shop from 8.30am AEDT today, Thursday 8 October 2026.
The collection celebrates five Australian inventions that have become part of everyday life here and around the world. Most of us have made a jaffle, used wireless technology or travelled with a child in a safety capsule. Few of us know the Australian story behind them.
The five inventions
The stump jump plough was patented by South Australian Richard Smith in 1876. It let farmers work land still full of stumps and roots.
Defence scientist Dr David Warren invented the black box flight recorder in 1953. Investigators have relied on it ever since to understand what happened on a flight.
CSIRO developed high-speed Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology in the 1990s. It is part of the technology behind the wireless connections we use every day.
The jaffle maker and the baby safety capsule round out the set. Both went on to become familiar parts of Australian life.
The designs
The collection includes eight coins:
- $1 Stump Jump Plough
- $1 Black Box Flight Recorder
- $1 Jaffle Maker
- $1 Baby Safety Capsule
- $1 WLAN
- $1 Coloured Black Box Flight Recorder
- $2 Bright Ideas coin, featuring all five inventions
- $2 Bright Ideas proof coin
What we have in stock
From 8.30am we will have the Bright Ideas collector range online:
- Five-coin collection
- Seven-coin collection
- $2 proof coin
The $2 Bright Ideas coin is also going into circulation. If you pay with cash at a participating newsXpress store, you could find one in your change.
How we handle this release
We are an official Royal Australian Mint stockist and we sell at RRP. No mark-ups for hype.
There are no ballots. Our usual fair release limit of one per customer or household applies, so more collectors get a chance at the set. We monitor orders and cancel suspicious bulk orders.
We have the stock and will start shipping from 8:30am today.
Most orders ship the same day, and we film our entire pick and pack process. If you are in Melbourne, click and collect is available from our Hawthorn office, often ready within an hour.
Shop the Bright Ideas range at mintcoinshop.com.au from 8.30am AEDT.
