To commemorate the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022, the Royal Australian Mint has issued a 50-cent coin, showing seven portraits of the Queen that appeared on Australian coins over her reign.

The coin, in both fine silver proof and uncirculated finishes, depicts the first six effigies, fanned above the Queen’s royal cypher.

They are, Leigh Gordon, the Mint’s CEO, said, “a study of graceful ageing by one of the era’s most recognisable female figureheads”.

Mary Gillick designed the first portrait of the Queen, which appeared on pre-decimal coinage from 1953 to 1965.

The first portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on Australian decimal coinage, designed in 1964 by Arnold Machin OBE RA, was released in Australia on 14 February 1966, preceding its first use on British coins in 1968.

In 1982, Raphael Maklouf’s design won the British Royal Mint’s competition for a new effigy. It was used on both British and Australian coins.

Ian Rank-Broadley’s portrait appeared on British coins from 1998; Australia adopted this effigy on some collector coins in 1998 and generally from 1999.

To commemorate the Royal Visit in 2000, a portrait by Vladimir Gottwald was approved for a once-only use. Gottwald, a member of the Royal Australian Mint’s Design and Engraving Section, became the first Australian designer to have his work on the obverse of an Australian coin since Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal KCVO RA, who sculpted the 1910–1936 effigy of George V.

The most recent effigy of the Queen, designed by Jody Clark, is the sixth coin portrait to have been created during her reign. It appeared on Australian coins from 1999 until the Queen’s death.

Created by the Mint’s design team, the central image is framed with lily of the valley, one of the Queen’s favourite flowers and golden wattle, Australia’s national floral emblem.

The obverse of the coin shows the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Effigy by Jody Clark, used after her death. It adds the Queen’s years of reign, reading “Elizabeth II 1952–2022”, to the portrait.

Mr Gordon said the coins “celebrate the Queen’s seven decades of devotion and service, as well as the indelible mark she has left on Australian coinage and coin collecting”.

This special edition coin will be for sale at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra from 8.30am today, through the Mint’s Contact Centre on 1300 352 020, or through the Mint’s authorised distributors.

“With limited mintage, this coin is expected to be a highly prized addition to any coin collection,” Mr Gordon said.