2025 was only a few hours old when it brought "lucky" 25-year-old Daniella Vido something she'd always wanted - the chance to strike the world's first coin for the new year.

The lifelong coin enthusiast's parents first began collecting coins when she was a baby, and she's now continued the tradition herself as an adult.

She estimates she now has hundreds of coins at home.

This year was only the second time Ms Vido had entered into the ballot, but visiting the Royal Australian Mint on New Year's Day had long been a staple of her childhood.

The Canberra local was this year among a crowd of more than 300 people who forwent the late night revelry of New Year's Eve in favour of an early morning wake up and a visit to the Royal Australian Mint.

They were all there to partake in what's become a hallowed tradition for numismatists, otherwise known as coin collectors, to try and get their hands on the first coin of the year.

Many had travelled from as far afield as Melbourne, Brisbane and regional New South Wales to be there for the occasion, and some had even backed up a visit to the Mint from the night before, where they'd tried to secure one of the last coins to be minted for the year.

Every year, the Mint bestows a new theme on the collectible coins.

This year, they commemorate 60 years of the Royal Australian Mint itself, the architecture of the building, the robots and the machines that operate out of it, the workers (affectionately known as Minties) and of course the coin collectors themselves.

Don adds:

To read the complete article, see:
Lifelong coin collector wins first coin of the year in ballot at the Royal Australian Mint(https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-01/first-coin-year-2025-royal-australian-mint-canberra/104773970)