A new 50 cent coin entered circulation this week featuring 14 different words for "money" from Australian Indigenous languages.
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Several Katherine region Indigenous language translations for coin feature on our new 50 cent piece.
There are several languages from the NT and wumara is from the Gurindji language, has its origins in the Victoria River region and means stone or money.
Another is the Alawa language from the Minyerri region and gudaru for coin is said to mean hill, stone, rock, small mountain, coins, hailstone or altar.
The Royal Australian Mint released the coin this week to celebrate the International Year of indigenous Languages.
The coins are a celebration of Australia's "unique and diverse" Indigenous languages, said Royal Australian Mint CEO Ross MacDiarmid.
"We hope the coins will serve as a tangible reminder of the important efforts being undertaken to preserve, protect and revitalise Indigenous languages in Australia," he said.
The various indigenous words which feature on the new-issue coin are 14 different translations for the word 'money'.
There are over 250 Indigenous languages in Australia, and the ones used on the coin represent tiny number of these.
Before colonisation, there was no money system - things like pearl shells, quartz or food were traded. The words, therefore, are relatively new to indigenous languages.
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