SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia has released an unusual commemorative set of A$1 coins featuring an A-Z of Aussie imagery - including a meat pie, the popular television soap Neighbours and the word "G'day".

The partnership between the Royal Australian Mint and Australia Post will see a mere flip of a coin separating the country's monarch Queen Elizabeth II from a quokka, a diminutive marsupial native to Rottnest Island off Western Australia.

Other designs include an image of a yowie (a mythical creature said to inhabit the Outback), a lamington (a square sponge cake coated in chocolate and desiccated coconut) and a pair of thongs, or flip-flops.

An indigenous hunting weapon, the boomerang, and the musical instrument didgeridoo are also featured.

Ms Nicole Sheffield, an Australia Post executive, said the postal service hoped collecting the coins would prove popular and serve as a talking point between friends and family.

"Each and every coin opens up the opportunity for wonderful conversations about quintessential Australian life," she said in a statement.

Several Australian brands also got the nod, with an Esky (a popular brand of coolers often found on construction sites and at barbecues), Vegemite (a thick yeast spread similar to Marmite) and Zooper Dooper ice popsicles among them.

The 26 themed coins - which will be legal tender in Australia - are being rolled out in batches throughout October.

They will only be available to customers who make a purchase using cash at a post office and receive A$1 coins in their change.