COMMEMORATIVE COIN:

The Royal Australian Mint in Canberra has apologised after withdrawing from sale a new commemorative 50-cent coin just hours after it became available online.

The new coin (below) was intended to mark the 50^th anniversary of the first episode of ABC TV’s landmark weekly pop music program Countdown.

A Mint spokesperson explained the steps that led to an image of Countdown host Ian “Molly” Meldrum being mistakenly included on one side of the coin. (main picture)

“Unfortunately the error was noticed only just before the coin was about to go on sale this morning,” the spokesperson said.

“I can explain that there was some miscommunication in the design process for the new Countdown coin.

“When it came to finalising the design and striking the limited edition batch of 50,000 of the new coins one of our production staff questioned the appropriateness of using the image of King Charles III on the observe side with the very colourful stylised Countdown design on the reverse side.

“There was a bit of an argument with some in the production team saying King Charles belonged on the coin because not only is he the current monarch but he had actually appeared on Countdown way back in 1977 in a famously awkward interview with ‘Molly’ Meldrum. (below)

“Others thought it more appropriate, even though it goes against protocol, to put the late Queen Elizabeth II’s image on the coin because she was the reigning monarch in 1974 when Countdown started.

“In the end and facing a deadline the head of production had to make a snap decision and said ‘Put the old queen on it’, and so here we are.

“We do apologise for the error and we are going back to the drawing board to redesign the coin for release as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

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