An Australian coin with encrypted messages
The Australian Mint has released a coin with several coded inscriptions to mark the 75th anniversary of the ASD Secret Service.
I have already presented a few coins and medals with encrypted inscriptions on Cipherbrain. One example is the commemorative coin for the 2011 Women’s Soccer World Cup in Germany. The same article also describes a Canadian coin with an embossed cryptogram.
The coin in question today is nevertheless something special: it bears several encrypted messages – at different levels of difficulty.
The new Australian 50-cent coin
First of all, I would like to thank Thomas Bosbach, Peter Fink, Matthias Lohmeyer, Neale Murden and Richard SantaColoma (I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone). They all pointed me to the crypto coin in question.
The coin in question was released by the Australian Mint. It is a commemorative coin minted to mark the 75th anniversary of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) intelligence agency. 50,000 copies were produced, reportedly all are already sold.
On one side is shown Queen Elizabeth II:
Quelle/Source: Reserve Bank of Australia
Already here there is something to discover: Under five of the letters there is a dot pattern. This could be Braille. In addition, the letters JC can be found on the shoulder of the queen. Even more interesting for us is the other side:
Quelle/Source: Reserve Bank of Australia
Several encrypted messages can be found here. According to an official website of the Australian government, there should be a total of four solutions (on both sides together) and a “bonus level”. On the said website, one can submit the various solutions. There is no mention of a prize to be won, but you can hope for a job offer from the ASD.
Transcription
Kindly, there is also a transcription on the aforementioned website:
Side B (Queens head)
ELIZABETH II – AUSTRALIA – 2022 – 50 CENTS
The following letters have a series of dots shown below them.
Using a 2 by 2 grid and numbered 1-2 (top row), 3-4 (bottom row).
B 1 2
T 1 3
H 1 2 3
A 1
S 1 4
A 1 2 4
Side A outer ring
.DVZIVZFWZXRLFHRMXLMXVKGZMWNVGRXFOLFHRMVCVXFGRLM.URMWXOZIRGBRM7DRWGSC5WVKGS
Side A inner ring
BGOAMVOEIATSIRLNGTTNEOGRERGXNTEAIFCECAIEOALEKFNR5LWEFCHDEEAEEE7NMDRXX5
Side A inner circle (two thirds of design)
1947-2022 – 75 – REVEAL AND PROTECT – AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE
Side A inner circle (one third of design)
E3B
8287D4
290F723381
4D7A47A291DC
0F71B2806D1A53B
311CC4B97A0E1CC2B9
3B31068593332F10C6A335
2F14D1B27A3514D6F7382F1A
D0B0322955D1B83D3801CDB2
287D05C0B82A311085A03329
1D85A3323855D6BC333119D
6FB7A3C11C4A72E3C17CCB
B33290C85B6343955CCBA3
B3A1CCBB62E341ACBF72
E3255CAA73F2F14D1B27A
341B85A3323855D6BB33
3055C4A53F3C55C7B22
E2A10C0B97A291DC0F
73E3413C3BE392819
D1F73B331185A33
23855CCBA2A3
206D6BE383
1108B
The letters JC on head side are not transcribed. The same applies to the following sequence of symbols on the other side (bottom center):
Quelle/Source: Reserve Bank of Australia
The software CrypTool 2 returns the following words for the letter pattern (123214) given here: CIVICS DIVIDE GARAGE MADAME MINIMA REVERS REVERT
Already solved?
Here is a video about the new Australian 50 cent coin. It gives a few tips on how to decode it. It also reports that some people have already solved the encoded messages. So far, however, I have not found any solutions online. So the guessing may continue. At the end of the month, the Australian Mint plans to publish the plaintexts.
If you have found out something, feel free to write it in a comment to this article.
If you want to add a comment, you need to add it to the German version here.
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Further reading: A pigpen encryption on a Masonic coin
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