Mint unveils new coins chronicling iconic Australian inventions

Royal Australian Mint unveils new coins featuring celebrated Australian inventions What do a jaffle maker, a baby safety capsule and a black box have in common? Not only are they Australian inventions, but they will soon feature on $1 coins as part of the Royal Australian Mint's new Bright Ideas collection. The collection chronicles five of Australia's most decorated inventions, including the stump jump plough, jaffle maker, black box flight recorder, baby safety capsule and high-speed Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology. Mint chief executive Emily Martin said the coins gave Australians "a chance to stop, look again and celebrate the people who thought differently". "I've used four of the five inventions celebrated in Bright Ideas without necessarily stopping to think about the Australian ingenuity behind them," she said. "That's what I love about this collection. These aren't inventions sitting behind glass in a museum — they're ideas that have become part of Australian life." Iconic inventions immortalised One of the five coin designs features the stump jump plough, a piece of machinery that revolutionised the way farmers tended to their land. It was designed in 1876 by South Australian farmer Richard Smith and was adopted worldwide, hailed as a cornerstone of farming technology. In 1949, Dr Ernest Smithers invented the jaffle maker, which went on to become a classic culinary staple in many Australian kitchens. Appliance giant Breville later re-imagined the device into an electronic toaster, cementing its position in modern gastronomic Australia. A few years later, Defence scientist Dr David Warren invented the black box flight recorder, which collect data from cockpits and help investigators assess the causes of plane crashes. Adelaide trio Bill Bowtell, Bob Heath and Colin Nagel founded the Safe-n-Sound baby safety capsule in 1984 in response to flailing safety precautions for infants travelling in cars. The final invention featuring in the collection came about in the 1990s, when scientists from the CSIRO helped develop WLAN technology, which allowed devices to connect with each other without being tied to cables. The invention went on to pave the groundwork for Wi-fi. The coin range The collection has five $1 coins, each featuring one of the inventions. Also available for purchase is a $2 proof coin featuring all five of the inventions in its design. The coins will be available from Thursday, October 8, from the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra and participating newsXpress stores around the country. Numismatists are also being urged to check their change, with a special $2 Bright Ideas coin entering circulation from Thursday. [Image text:] FL MAKER JAF E P L 7