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Australia Frilled Neck Lizard

1989 Proof Two Hundred Dollar

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This Frilled Neck Lizard 1990 Two Hundred Dollar Pride of Australia Gold coin is the first of six coins in the Pride of Australia wildlife series. The other coins in the series are Platypus (1990), Emu (1991), Echidna (1992), Squirrel Glider (1993) and the Tasmanian Devil (1994). The reverse was designed by Horst Hahne and features a Frilled Neck Lizard in its natural habitat. It contains the legend PRIDE OF AUSTRALIA TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. The obverse displays Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, right facing, crowned with necklace and earrings. Around this portrait is the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1989.

The frilled neck lizard has become an Australian cultural icon featuring in films, as mascots, and of course on the Australian two-cent coin as designed by Stuart Devlin. The fame of the species comes from its extraordinary frill which usually remains folded to its body but is spread to discourage predators (a deimatic display) and during courtship. The lizard is found mainly in northern Australia and also parts of southern New Guinea where it spends most of its time in trees only coming down mainly for food or territorial conflicts. Although a number of introduced species threaten the lizard, such as cats and cane toads, they have stable populations and are not considered to be at risk.