2000 Australian $2 Coin

Quick answers

Is the 2000 Australian $2 rare?

No. 5.7 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 2000 Australian $2 coins were made?

5,700,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 2000 Australian $2 made of?

Aluminum bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel). It weighs 6.6 g and measures 20.5 mm.

Is the 2000 Australian $2 still legal tender?

Yes. Every $2 coin, colored commemoratives included, is legal tender in Australia.

How to recognize it

The obverse shows Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Elizabeth II wearing a tiara, with the initials IRB under the neck and the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000. On the reverse is Horst Hahne's Aboriginal elder, modeled on Gwoya Jungarai, beneath the Southern Cross with grass trees behind. There are no HH initials on this date. The coin is aluminum bronze, 20.5 mm wide, 6.6 g in weight, with an interrupted milled edge. Check the date carefully, as the three zeros wear quickly on well used coins. The tiara portrait also separates it from the Maklouf coins of 1998 and earlier, so look for IRB rather than RDM.

2000 Australian $2 by the numbers

By the numbers, the 2000 Australian $2 ranks 5th lowest of 36 circulation dates of the $2 coin. The next scarcer is the 2024 Australian $2 (5.2 million); the next more common is the 2012 Australian $2 (5.9 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1988 Australian $2 with 160.9 million, about 28 times as many. The scarcest is the 2011 Australian $2 with 1.8 million, 3.2 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 2000 output was 4.8 times fewer than 1999 and 6.2 times fewer than 2001.

What to check on your 2000 Australian $2

• Confirm the date 2000 and the portrait on the other side.
• Check the edge: Australian $2 coins have interrupted milling, with sections of reeding separated by smooth gaps.
• Weigh it if you are unsure: a genuine $2 coin weighs 6.6 g and is 20.5 mm across.

Circulated 2000 coins are usually worth face value, though they're worth setting aside because so few were made. Sharp, unworn examples bring a small premium and fully uncirculated coins with bright luster can draw a collector premium among the Rank-Broadley dates. Many of the best surviving examples come from the Royal Australian Mint's annual uncirculated sets. If you are building a run of every $2 date from change, this is one of the years you'll likely spend the longest looking for.

Ian Rank-Broadley portrait: the long middle run (1999 to 2019)

From 1999 the Queen appeared in a more mature portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley, wearing the tiara known as the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland. His IRB initials sit under the neck, which is the quickest way to tell his coins from the Maklouf and Clark ones. This portrait stayed on the $2 for two decades, longer than any other on the coin so far. Hahne's reverse carried on untouched. On Australian decimal coins it followed Arnold Machin's portrait of 1966 and Raphael Maklouf's of 1985.

Mintages in this period swing wildly because the Royal Australian Mint strikes to meet demand from the banks. The 2009 date reached 74.5 million, the highest since the launch year, while 2000 managed only 5.7 million. The real standout is 2011 at just 1.8 million, the lowest circulation figure for any $2 date. The 2012 date was also light at 5.9 million and both years have become favorites for people checking their change.

This era also brought color into Australian pockets. In 2012 the Remembrance Day $2 with a red poppy became the first colored coin in the $2 series released for circulation. A steady run of colored designs followed for Anzac anniversaries, sporting events and a children's book. The portrait ended in an unusual way: in 2019 the mint switched to Jody Clark's effigy partway through the year, so that date exists with both portraits.

Mintage chart

Specifications

Frequently asked questions