Summary

Australia
Fifty Cent 2005 (AD)
Mint: Royal Australian
Melbourne 2006 (M2006) Commonwealth Games Secondary School Student Coin Design Competition, uncirculated, packaged.

Commemorative 50 cent coin is based on a design by 16 year-old Kelly Just. Just was the winning entrant in a competition, for a secondary student to have their design featured on a commemorative coin issued for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.The competition received 'hundreds' of entries and 'over 20,000' votes were received in the process of selecting the winner. The design features "animals mimicking athletes performing a variety of activities that will feature in the up coming Commonwealth Games" (source: Royal Australian Mint website - see 'references' section for details).

Physical Description

A dodecagonal coin, following the standard pattern for Australian fifty cent pieces. Packaging: A plasticised card, coloured aqua, green and orange, the brand colours of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. The coin is held in a plastic enclosure in the right hand side of the card. It is heavily branded, and bears brief numismatic details on the back.

Obverse Description

Head of Queen Elizabeth II. Text: 'ELIZABETH II' from 7 o'clock to 11 o 'clock; 'AUSTRALIA 2006' from 1 o'clock to 5 o'clock.

Edge Description

Plain

Significance

These coins are a part of the commemoration of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. A series of over 10 coins will be issued by the Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, of which these are a part.
From 15 to 26 March, 2006, the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games will bring together over 4000 athletes from 71 Commonwealth Nations, for competition in 11 sports. A Fifty cent piece bearing the 'Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletic Spirit Subgraphic' for each sport will issued by the Mint, in addition to a special Aluminium/Zinc Bronze $5 coin commemorating the Queen's Baton Relay, and a Fifty cent coin bearing a design created by a sixteen year-old student, Kelly Just. The packaging for each coin features the branding for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. The ubiquity of this branding on products and events associated with the Games is significant in and of itself, as it is an indication of the holistic approach taken to managing the representation of the games by the organising body, Melbourne 2006.
The associated web-pages from the Royal Australian Mint website (www.ramint.gov.au) add a small amount of information about the individual sports, such as the fact that both men and women are competing in the weightlifting events. Copies of these materials will be kept as supplementary information about the objects.
The designs for the sports Fifty cent coins were created by Wojciech Pietranik, and the Five dollar coin is the work of designer Peter Soobik. Pietranik also designed the medals for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

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