News

A Halloween treat that outlasts the lollies

It's Halloween, and it's a Saturday. Plenty of households will spend today and tonight on costumes, pumpkins and bowls of lollies. The lollies will be gone by Sunday. A coin will still be around in...

Numismatist (noun): Someone Who Never Has Spare Change

Most coin collectors know the moment. Someone asks if you’ve got a few coins for the parking meter. You do. They’re just in an album, sorted by year, and not going anywhere. That’s the joke behind ...

Which Bright Ideas Coin Is Right for You? A Guide to the Range

The 2026 Bright Ideas program from newsXpress and the Royal Australian Mint celebrates five Australian inventions. It comes in four formats at four price points. Choosing between them depends on bu...

Colours of Christmas 2026: A Coloured Silver Proof 50c Coin for the Festive Season

Christmas and coin collecting make a natural pair. A well-chosen coin is a gift that lasts far beyond the season. The Royal Australian Mint's Colours of Christmas 2026 50c Coloured Silver Proof Coi...

Bright Ideas $2 Proof Coin: The Collector's Edition, Limited to 10,000

The 2026 Bright Ideas program has a coin for every budget. For collectors who want the best finish, the $2 proof coin is the one to own. It carries the same design as the uncirculated version. The ...

How a Bondi doctor gave Australia the jaffle

People have toasted bread over fires for centuries. Hinged "pie irons" were sold in America from the 1920s. But a hot sandwich had one big flaw. The moment you bit into it, the filling escaped. Mel...

From exploding black holes to your home Wi-Fi

In the early 1990s, computers that needed to talk to each other needed cables. Radio looked like the obvious replacement, but indoors it failed badly. Radio waves bounce off walls, ceilings and fur...

How a broken bolt on Yorke Peninsula changed farming around the world

In the 1860s and 1870s, South Australia and Victoria sold land cheaply to anyone willing to farm it. Much of that land was covered in mallee scrub. Farmers cut the scrub and burnt it, but it grew s...

The Melbourne chemist who taught aeroplanes to tell their own story

In 1953 and 1954, the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, broke apart in mid-air more than once. Investigators had little to go on beyond the wreckage. David Warren, a fuel chemist ...

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 in...