The Royal Australian Mint will soon hold two events for the public. Picture: Mackenzie Watkins.
Every Canberra resident has been offered the chance to become one of the last people to mint a coin for this year, as well as one of the first hundred to mint a coin for 2026.
But if luck is truly on your side, you may be picked to be the first person to mint a coin in the entire world next year.
The Last Coin for 2025 and the First Coin for 2026 will soon take place and are expected to be popular events for Deakin’s Royal Australian Mint.
This New Year’s Eve, collectors and enthusiasts will have the opportunity to be chosen as one of the last 10 people to mint their own collectable coin featuring this year’s mintmark theme – the 60th Anniversary of the Royal Australian Mint – before it is decommissioned.
Then on New Year’s Day, 100 people drawn in a raffle will mint the first uncirculated collectable coins made anywhere in the world. These people will receive certificates of authenticity with their coins.
Next year’s mintmark theme will be unveiled as part of the New Year’s Day event. This theme will be on the tails side of the coin and will also feature across gallery and coin collections for the year.
The mint’s museum and public engagement director Stuart Baines said the first coin of the year was one of the mint’s much-loved traditions and had been celebrated for more than a decade.
“Anyone who is in Canberra on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day is welcome to come and join the fun,” he said.
“The first person drawn on New Year’s Day will press the first coin, not only in Australia, but the entire world.
“Every person at the mint on the 1st of January has an equal chance of being the selected history maker.”
As Australia’s time zone meets the new year earlier than the Americas, Europe, Africa and much of Asia, the Royal Australian Mint is able to press the world’s first coin every year.
The first coin will come with unique packaging and a certificate of authenticity. For example, last year’s first coin was in a presentation case with a marble inlay and a piece of tile from the flooring laid in the 2008 refurbishment.
To enter the free draw for the Last Coin for 2025, be at the mint from 3:30 to 4:30 pm on 31 December to collect a ticket. It costs $3 to mint your coin.
For the First Coin for 2026’s free raffle on 1 January, you can collect a wrist band at the mint from 7 to 8 am before the draw takes place at 8:15 am. This will be immediately followed by the minting of the first 100 coins.
For more information, visit the mint’s website by clicking here.
