Australia's weird and wonderful deep sea creatures have been commemorated on the first coins to be minted in Australia this year.
The Royal Australian Mint and national science agency CSIRO have joined forces to showcase marine life which call the southern and eastern coastline home.
It's the first time in two years the mint has been able to host the popular annual event which is expected to draw hundreds of keen coin collectors from across Australia.
Mina Hsu, a Taiwanese exchange student, won the ballot to become the first person to press a coin at the mint this year.
"I'm very excited to get the first coin, and I'm super surprised because I only found out about the event yesterday - I just came along for fun," Ms Hsu said.
"I will store it at home and keep it locked up and safe."
The 2023 collection of coins will celebrate rarely seen creatures from the deep including the bigfin squid, brittle star, dumbo octopus, gold coral, cactus urchin and spiny king crab.
CSIRO acting chief executive Elanor Huntington said the discoveries were made by the agency's flagship research vessel, Investigator.
"So much of our deep ocean remains a mystery, we know more about the surface of Mars than we do about our deepest oceans," Professor Huntington said.
"The 2023 new coin collection highlights these collaborative voyages and the significant contribution they have made to better understand life in our oceans."
The reverse side will have the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as the Mint prepares to transition to coins featuring King Charles III, due in late 2023.
It will be the last time a new design of the late monarch will be released and will pay tribute to her 70-year reign with the words "Elizabeth II 1952-2022".
Harley Russo secured the first minted coin for four years in a row from 2013 by camping out at the Mint. A ballot was introduced in 2018.
- with AAP
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