Australia's oldest airline Qantas has been featured on a $1 coin to celebrate its centenary, with people queuing up at the Royal Australian Mint on Monday to snap up the new addition.

The Mint hosted a pop-up stall where keen coin collectors were among the first to swap their cash for the freshly-minted circulating coins.

The Mint's general manager of sales, marketing and distribution, Mark Cartwright, said similar coin swaps were held in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

The coin will be legal tender and people should start seeing it straight away.

"Beyond Qantas being an iconic Australian organisation, we're really looking back at 100 years of aviation," Mr Cartwright told Region Media.

"Qantas was one of the pioneers so we look at how society has changed and really benefitted a big country by opening up aviation and tourism and trade, firstly across Australia and then to therest of the world."

A team of designers at the Mint worked with Qantas to design the coin that features a depiction of a plane flying through the number 100.

The plane is a stylised Boeing Dreamliner, the newest addition to the Qantas fleet. The decorative line pattern on the number 100 emulates fingerprints, signifying that Qantas is a part ofAustralia's national identity.

Mr Cartwright said the design is a reasonably simple one that will withstand the rigours of circulation, while there is a range of special coins that includes a set of coloured $1 coins that comesin a jet engine-shaped tin and tells the story of Qantas in Australia. There is also a gold plated 1 kg version that will be a very limited edition release.

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New coin marks Australia's oldest airline(https://the-riotact.com/new-coin-marks-australias-oldest-airline/358232)