In a collaboration with Woolworths the coins will be distributed through supermarkets nationwide, with 12 million to be put into circulation.

Royal Australian Mint chief executive Ross MacDiarmid said it was a fantastic opportunity for the Mint to show its support for the Olympics.

"From our point of view we are partnering with (a) the Olympic committee and the Olympics which has been inspirational, we don't get to do these things very often and this is the first time we've been the licensee of the coin program for many years and building on that as a partnership with Woolworths has made a really special program," Mr MacDiarmid said.

Mr MacDiarmid said it was also an opportunity to support Australian Athletes.

"We get a chance to be able to support the athletes that are actually on the journey to Rio. But we also get to produce coins that get out into Australia, and hopefully many Australians get a chance that they can hang on too," he said.

The first featured coin to hit the nation's checkouts will be the Australian Olympic $2 coin showcasing the blue Olympic Ring design, with a new coin being released every week.

This will be one of five Australian orientated Olympic coins to go into distribution. Following this a distinct Paralympic coin, the first ever multi-coloured Australian $2 coin, will be released.

Louise Dobson, a gold medallist from the Atlanta 1996 Olympics and part of Australia's hockey team, said she was thrilled to be a part of the launch.

"It's been a great fit to be here today with two of the key partners as well and also in conjunction with a program that hasn't seen something like this in 16 years since the Sydney Olympics. I'm thrilled that I was asked to come along, very excited," she said.

Mrs Dobson said the coins would provide great inspiration for Australian kids and would foster their dream to represent their country at an Olympics and to win a gold medal.

"I think it's great, it is something children love it, we all love it, every Australian loves the Olympic games and the Paralympics and this is a way that if the kids can't see it on television because of the time differences, they can get their gold coins, so they can take them to school for show-and-tell and really be part of it, and create little collections as well," she said.