AC/DC back in circulation, with songs and cents
The band has partnered with the Royal Australian Mint to produce a limited edition set of coins.
Almost five decades since its formation in Sydney in 1973, the unstoppable rock ’n’ roll train that is AC/DC rolls on with news that its 17th album will be released next month.
A 12-track collection named Power Up will offer the first new music from the band since the death of founding member Malcolm Young, who retired in 2014 after receiving a dementia diagnosis that eventually led to his death three years later, aged 64.
Power Up will feature the same line-up that played on the 2014 Rock or Bust album: singer Brian Johnson, lead guitarist Angus Young, bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd, while Malcolm Young’s nephew Stevie continues in the role of rhythm guitarist.
The new work — including lead single Shot in the Dark, which was released on Wednesday — will arrive on November 13 in the midst of several anniversaries for classic AC/DC album releases this year and next, including four decades since Back In Black was released and became its best-selling collection, with global sales of 50 million according to its record label Sony Music.
To mark these multiple milestones, the Royal Australian Mint has partnered with the group to produce a limited edition set of seven 20c coins stamped with the cover artwork for albums including High Voltage (1975), TNT (also 1975), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976), 1981’s For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) and Ballbreaker (1995).
The coins are packaged as miniature vinyl records within a cardboard box designed to look like the kind of road case in which AC/DC has shipped its equipment around the world over the decades, including for its most recent Australian stadium tour in 2015.
For outgoing Royal Australian Mint chief executive Ross MacDiarmid — who was willing to don a black AC/DC T-shirt and give his best Angus Young impression for The Australian’s photographer — the new collection is one of the highlights of his 10 years in the job.
“This is a great program that recognises an iconic band of Australia,” he said. “The way we’re presenting the coins themselves in a box is really cleverly done. The people who work at the Mint are amazing, and this particular program is a reflection of the attention to detail and the pride they have in what they do.”
For those about to collect, be quick: the coins are in a limited mintage of 30,000. When the Mint collaborated with the band in 2018 to produce a special edition “Thunderstruck” 50c coin and a black nickel coin shaped like a guitar pick, they both sold out within 48 hours.
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