Hey Friend

As you may already know, with the Olympics starting in a few weeks, Woolworths and the Mint have released this stunning new set of coins into circulation. However, there are some important things you may not yet know about the various errors to check for.

The basics:

Firstly, here are the details of the coins - there are 6 coins in total. The first batch of 5 coins has one coin for each of the 5 Olympic Rings. Then in the 6th week, there is a different coin for the Paralympics. It has a completely different design, and will be revealed in August.

As with all the past Woolworths coin promotions, there are 2 ways to get the coins. You can buy the full set of 5 coins ($15 at any Woolies store and from the Mint directly), or you can get the individual coins in your change. Each week, there will be a different coin released through the checkouts. This first week, it's the Blue Coin.

This is the set you can buy from Woolworths:

The errors to look for

Now here's where it gets interesting - There are 3 different errors to keep an eye out for in this Olympic series....

Error 1. Mule Coins (wrong heads side)

The coins were originally created for the 2020 Olympics, so they are dated 2020 (even though they're being released in 2021).

As is the new tradition, the dollar amount of the coin is shown on the Heads side, so it's a little different to the standard coins - this is what you should see on your heads side for the Olympics coins:

What's important to know is that some people have reported finding Olympic coins with the normal heads side below (notice it doesn't have the "2 Dollars"):

So if you find one of these Olympic coins with the normal heads side, it is considered a Mule error.

Error 2. Wrong paint error

The next thing to check is that the correct paint was used on your coins. At least one person has found a copy of the first blue coin with the wrong paint. It has the surfer image, but the paint from the women's cricket coin last year.

So check that the colour on your coins matches the background design. See the image above to confirm what they should look like.

Error 3. Bullseye error (paint on heads side)

The final error to check for is the Bullseye error - this is when the paint is on the heads side instead of the tails side. I haven't heard of any yet, but you may be the first to find one.


Any of these errors could be worth a lot of money to the right collector, so check your coins carefully!

I'll let you know when the Paralympics coin is released in August.

In the meantime, check your heads sides and the paint, then let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers

Damian