Australian Mint struggles to keep up as demand for Queen Elizabeth II memorabilia skyrockets

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has rocked the world and now Australian lovers of the Monarch are flooding the internet in a bid to grab any memorabilia they can to honour her.

Her majesty died overnight aged 96 after 70 years as Queen, leading to a wave of supporters heading to the Royal Australia Mint website to seek out official commemorative coins and memorabilia.

Thanks to high demand for the recently released limited-edition 50-cent commemorative coin to celebrate the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) 75th anniversary, visitors to the website have been faced with delays to even access the online shop. 

Predictably, online auction and sales website eBay is lighting up with new listings featuring Queen Elizabeth memorabilia, collectables and commemorative items – but they come at premium prices.

Visitors had to wait in a queue for the Royal Australian Mint online shop today due to very high demand in the wake of her majesty’s death

Items up for auction are attracting enormous interest while set-price items are fetching eye-watering prices, like an Australia 2022 50c Cent Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Proof Silver Coin listed for $649.

If you are looking for a bargain, Facebook Marketplace might be your best bet. There are still hundreds of items listed with many more being added following the news of the monarch’s passing.

You can grab items like the Woman’s Day Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II souvenir issue for as low as $2, while many items are priced between $10 and $20.

However, if you are looking for commemorative coins, you’ll need to refresh your page constantly because most of the existing items for sale have been snapped up.

Queen Elizabeth commemorative coins on eBay today had high price tags, low availability and plenty of interested parties watching on 

It is a similar story at online classifieds website Gumtree, with a host of affordable collectables flooding the website by the hour because of the sad news.

A handful of commemorative coins are available – but none of the really valuable Australia Mint versions, just options that have sat in the classifieds queue for up to two years.

Facebook Marketplace is the best place for affordable collectables, although commemorative coins are hard to come across and have large price tags

Prices had already soared on many commemorative items prior to the Queen’s passing because of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which honoured her 70 years of wearing the crown this year.

For those looking for a collectors piece to remember her majesty by, antiques trader and royal memorabilia collector Ann Parker told the Mail that coins might not be your best bet.

‘Mugs and cups tend to be the most sought-after items because of their aesthetic appeal. However, only pieces kept in pristine condition are collectable,’ she said.

Online classifieds site Gumtree has a wide range of collectables but coins are in short supply

She said the Spode limited edition loving cup made to celebrate the Queen’s silver wedding anniversary in 1972 was one of the most sought-after items of its kind on the market.

‘The loving cup is a traditional favourite due its elegant design – but over time many break because the two handles that stick out from it are so fragile,’ she said.