Daffy Duck on 50 cents

Daffy Duck features on a Tuvaluan silver 50 cents, the second coin in a new Looney Tunes Series. (Image courtesy The Perth Mint: LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WB SHIELD: © & ™ WBEI (s18))

The Perth Mint released the second 50-cent coin of a new Looney Tunes Series in early April. This second coin features the wonderfully short-fused Daffy Duck.

As with the earlier Bugs Bunny 50 cents, the new partially colored issue is struck for Tuvalu on a 32.60 mm, 15.553 g (0.5 oz) .9999 fine silver flan. Mintage is 5,000.

Daffy made his big screen debut in “Porky’s Duck Hunt” on April 17, 1937. Unlike earlier animated hunter-prey cartoons, Daffy was different. He was assertive, completely unrestrained and combative.

In later films, the anthropomorphic black duck evolved to provide the ultimate foil for Bugs Bunny. But his slobbery, exaggerated lisp, voiced by Mel Blanc, never changed in 52 years. Audiences came to expect Daffy’s “desthpicable” in each and every short.

In World War II, Daffy stayed true to his unbridled nature. He dodged the draft in “Draftee Daffy,” battled a Nazi goat in “Scrap Happy Daffy,” hit Hitler on the head in “Daffy the Commando,” and outwitted Hitler, Goebbels and Goering in “Plane Daffy.”

He was drafted successfully as the official mascot for the U.S. 600th Bombardment Squadron.

In the golden age of Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies, Daffy starred in 130 shorts, making him the third-most-frequently-seen character behind Bugs Bunny’s 180 appearances and Porky Pig’s 162 roles.

Subsequently, Daffy has appeared in full-length movies, video games and comic books. He is still active today.