In 2003, the Royal Australian Mint held a competition among Primary School Students to create a 50c coin design around the theme of 'Australia'. Twelve year-old Victorian John Serrano came up with the winning motif, which featured a wombat, lorikeet and koala. Serrano's design was made immortal when struck upon the 2004 Student Design 50c coin, and hit tills and purses across the country. A low-mintage release, just 10.2 million were struck.

The 2004 Student Design 50c coin is a unique, one-year-only legal tender type. Utterly distinctive, it's becoming hard to find in change today ‐ especially in higher grades