Pocket change with two languages: Australia's new coins carry Gudanji names for its animals

The next coin in your change might teach you a word. The Royal Australian Mint's 2026 'Our Animals, Our Country' five-coin set, on sale from Wednesday, celebrates native wildlife through the Gudanji language of the Northern Territory — designed with artist Ryhia Dank (nardurna), who grew up in Borroloola on Gudanji Country. The red kangaroo is marraji, the emu jagurrugurru, the saltwater crocodile mardumbarrayi, the brolga darramanji and the long-necked turtle gulamandarrina — each animal shown with the name its Country has always given it. One in ten sets hides a bonus: a special coloured-print crocodile coin. 'There is something really special about the joy of finding a coloured coin in your change,' said Mint chief executive Emily Martin.

SDG 10 · Reduced inequalities — Mechanism: institutional program