2026 $2 Dawn Service – Lest We Forget ‘C’ Mintmark Coloured UNC Coin on Card
Mintage: 100,000
This 2026 coloured $2 coin features a powerful Dawn Service design, showing the sun rising over the ocean, the Australian Coat of Arms, and a soldier standing in quiet reflection with head bowed during the minute’s silence for “Lest We Forget.”
Each year on 25 April, Australians gather at dawn to honour and remember those who served and sacrificed. This coloured $2 coin commemorates the Dawn Service, a deeply respected tradition of remembrance held across Australia and at significant overseas locations, including Gallipoli. During 2020 and 2021, when public commemorations were restricted, many Australians stood at dawn in their driveways, showing the enduring importance of this national tradition.
A typical Dawn Service includes a commemorative address, the laying of wreaths, the playing of military bugle calls, and a one or two-minute silence. Some services also include a catafalque party, an armed guard of four personnel standing watch at a memorial, shrine, or symbolic platform.
The traditional bugle calls, “Last Post” and “Reveille,” are played before and after the silence, adding to the solemn and respectful nature of the service.