The Royal Australian Mint has released Heart and Soul of Australia: International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, a pair of 2026 Australian $1 coins honouring the landscapes that cover roughly 75 per cent of the Australian continent and the people who manage them. The release, available from 15 July 2026, comprises a $1 uncirculated coin in card and a $1 silver proof coin, and it stands alone as the world’s only coin marking the internationally recognised year.
The occasion behind the coins is not a Mint invention. The United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously to designate 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), a global initiative to raise awareness of rangelands and the communities that serve as their frontline custodians. For Australia, where rangelands stretch from the dusty tracks of the Diamantina to the tropical savannahs of the north and the beehive domes of the Bungle Bungles, that designation lands close to home.
The Rangelands and Pastoralists Coin Design
The reverse design draws its elements from the IYRP logo and builds them into a single pastoral scene. At the centre, a horse and rider with a dog at their side symbolise the enduring spirit of pastoral work. Two sheep and a cow anchor the foreground, representing Australia’s agricultural foundations, while a gnarled gum tree, the outline of distant mountains and a soaring wedge-tailed eagle open the composition up to the vastness of the country beyond. The words “Rangelands and Pastoralists” rim the central image, framing the scene and giving it scale.
It is a design that works as a miniature landscape rather than a collection of emblems, and the Mint has leaned into that reading. Stuart Baines, the Mint’s director of Museum and Public Engagement, said the coins tell a rarely thought of Australian story, recognising the pastoralists and rangeland communities who carry generations of knowledge while caring for some of the world’s most remarkable landscapes.
Australia’s Rangelands and the People Who Manage Them
Rangelands are often shorthand for the outback, but the category is broader: grasslands, open plains, deserts and savannahs that together make up most of Australia’s land mass. These regions support millions of cattle and sheep, underpin the country’s food and fibre exports, and sustain rural communities through agriculture, mining and tourism.
They are also home to many First Nations people, and the rangelands carry Indigenous culture and knowledge shaped over countless generations, an enduring stewardship that continues to guide sustainable land management today. IYRP Australia defines a pastoralist as someone who manages the livestock, pastures and landscapes of the rangelands, a definition wide enough to take in graziers, producers, drovers, stockmen, jackaroos and jillaroos, and First Nations people caring for Country.
Dr Dana Kelly, Australasian chair of the IYRP committee, described the coin as a small time capsule of the country’s long pastoral story, one she hopes will quietly remind Australians that everyday purchases of beef, lamb, grain, wool and cotton connect them to the families managing the outback with skill and care.
Mintage, Price and Availability
The 2026 $1 Uncirculated Coin in Card carries a mintage of 40,000 pieces at AUD $17.50, with a household limit of three. The 2026 $1 Silver Proof Coin is capped at 5,000 pieces at AUD $80.00, limited to one per person.
Both formats went on sale at 8.30am AEST on Wednesday 15 July 2026 through the Mint’s online shop, the Mint Contact Centre, the Mint Shop in Canberra and participating authorised distributors.
A Quiet Kind of Commemorative
Themed UN year coins rarely make headlines, and this one is unlikely to be an exception on the secondary market. But as the only coin in the world tied to the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, it occupies a niche entirely its own, and for collectors of Australian dollar commemoratives, the modest silver proof mintage of 5,000 is the number to watch. More than that, the release does what the best circulating-standard commemoratives do: it puts a working landscape, and the people who keep it working, into the national pocket.
