By arts editor HELEN MUSA

A new $1 collector coin recognising the United Nations’ International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, has been released by The Royal Australian Mint on Wednesday.

The coin is believed to be the only coin in the world issued to mark the UN-designated year., and celebrates the people and landscapes that underpin Australia’s pastoral industries.

The design acknowledges Australians whose work often goes unnoticed and features a mounted stock rider accompanied by a working dog, with sheep, cattle, a  gum tree and a wedge-tailed eagle symbolising Australia’s vast rangelands and pastoral communities.

“This release recognises the Australians whose hands shape the land and sustain our way of life,” the Mint’s Stuart Baines says, while Australasian chair of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists committee, Dana Kelly, says the coin recognises landscapes that are central to Australia’s food security, biodiversity and agricultural economy.

Recognised by the United Nations, the 2026 International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists aims to highlight the ecological, cultural and economic importance of rangelands and the people who manage them.

The Mint has released the commemorative coin in two editions, a $1 uncirculated coin in card and a $1 silver proof coin, available through the Royal Australian Mint and authorised distributors.

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