There have been plenty of coins made over the years celebrating everything from native wildlife, prominent Australians and important national events.
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Now the men and women who kept communities safe during one of the worst fire seasons on record will be commemorated on currency.
A commemorative $2 coin has been released by the Royal Australian Mint honouring Australian firefighters.
More than 2 million of the coins will enter circulation in coming days.
A further 40,000 coins will be made available as collectibles for purchase, of which $125,000 from the sales will be donated to fire and emergency services organisations across the country.
Mint general manager Mark Cartwright said the coin was a way to honour the work of firefighters across the country not just for the Black Summer bushfires, but the work done in the years before.
"Certainly with the difficult summer we had last year, the Mint was committed to finding a way to showcase the contribution of firefighters," Mr Cartwright said.
"The coins can be seen from this week and will start to be shipped to the banks and they'll hopefully be in people's wallets through the retail period leading into Christmas."
ACT Emergency Services Agency commissioner Georgeina Whelan, who was at the launch of the new coin, said it was a special honour for thousands of paid and volunteer firefighters.
"It's a reflection of the gratitude and the respect and support our firefighters nationally have received from the Australian community," she said.
"We haven't had time to grieve this year. It was a season we don't want to revisit any time soon, and we rolled out of that and into COVID and we haven't had time to catch our breath and think about what we had lived through."
The coin was unveiled outside the Mint in front of dozens of ACT firefighters who had worked tirelessly during the last bushfire season.
ACT Rural Fire Service acting chief officer Rohan Scott said the coin was a special opportunity for fire crews.
"This coin represents the sacrifice they have made to the community in fighting fires," he said.
"Hopefully every time this coin comes into someone's change, we hope that they consider the sacrifice firefighters have made in protecting the community."
The coin features a red flame in the middle with a male and female firefighter on either side.
The coin's designer Aleksandra Stokic said it was a difficult process to finalise a design that captured the thousands of firefighters from across the country
"The space of the $2 coin is limited, so that was why I decided to have one male and one female firefighter and they're also using two different hoses, one for the rural fire service and one for urban firefighting," she said.
The unveiling of the coin on Thursday also coincided with the launch of a new exhibition at the Mint.
Objects from previous fire seasons and photographs will be on display at the Mint from November 3 until January 28.
Among them include firefighter uniforms, burnt coins from the 2003 Canberra bushfires and photographs taken by fire crews.
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
