This 2020 Tooth Fairy $2 coin is the first release of the Tooth Fairy series by the Royal Australian Mint. The kits were designed as a keepsake to enhance the sense of magic children, parents, and grandparents experience celebrating the loss of a baby tooth. The kit was released on the 3^rd of February 2020 with the carded edition being released on the 18^th of May 2020 exclusively through RAM dealers.

As we can see with this pictured example the coin has two dints situated on the reverse; one half way down the left wing of the Tooth Fairy, and the other located relatively at the position of 1 o’clock. These indentations are known as a strike through error which are caused by a foreign object contacting the surface of the die and the blank when being struck. There is a great range in shapes and sizes of strike through errors. Less often the object is still pressed into the coin, generally these coins will command a large premium on the collectors market. Also featured on the reverse of these coins are the initials 'BK' of Royal Australian Mint designer Bronwyn King.

The strike through error is not to be confused with the die fill error which is defined by a missing or faded feature on a coin, often caused by foreign matter such as grease and or dirt plugging the cavity of the die. The die fill obstruction will cause the effect of some missing feature or features on the coin. This occurs through the blank being unable to fill the die under pressure when it is struck. Although again this should not be confused with a weak strike, which is usually identified by a more uniform lack of detail.

This example also includes some distinctive indentations below the foot of the Tooth Fairy around the rim. These indentations are described as a collar clash, which occurs when the obverse and or reverse die come in contact with the collar of the press - otherwise known as the third die. This third die is responsible for the serrations or reeding on the side edge of Australian coinage. In the case of a collar clash, the contact of the third die cause the connecting die to chip, which then produce the indentations on the rim of the coin.

The price of the kit originally retailed at $25 which included the coin, a bamboo toothbrush, a floating glitter fairy pen, a tooth chart, and a special message from the Tooth Fairy as advertised in the Mint Issue 126.  

The 2019 – 2020 RAM Annual Report indicates that 10’000 of the 2020 Tooth Fairy $2 coin kits were produced. The same document also reports 12’000 of the carded editions being produced. By adding the 2020 - 2021 Annual Report figures we can confirm that a total of 26’643 of the 2020 Tooth Fairy $2 coins were minted.

Release: 2020
Mintage: 26’643

RESOURCES

Facebook Upcoming Release Advertisement 31/01/2020 - https://m.facebook.com/RoyalAustralianMint/photos/-new-release-monday-february-3-dont-miss-mondays-exciting-new-release-the-2020-t/3666340300072765/

Facebook Upcoming Release Advertisement 03/02/2020  - https://www.facebook.com/RoyalAustralianMint/photos/-2020-tooth-fairy-kit-losing-a-baby-tooth-is-a-special-occasion-for-a-child-and-/3674840509222744/?locale2=ko_KR

Mint Issue 126
February 2020: https://www.ramint.gov.au/sites/default/files/mint_issue_feb_128_online.pdf

Annual Reports
2019 – 2020: https://www.ramint.gov.au/sites/default/files/ramint_annual_report_2019-20.pdf

2020 – 2021: https://www.ramint.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021/Corp_site/Policy/2020-21_ram_annual-report.pdf

Last Updated: 19/08/2022