Australia 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Sports Collection Series -Hockey 50c
Hockey was played at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006 in a round robin style of competition. Australia won gold medals in both the mens and womens team events played at the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Melbourne, Victoria. Australia's mens team defeated Pakistan 3-0 in the final picking up another gold medal for the tally. The women's team, the Hockeyroos defeated India 1-0 to again bring home the gold.
To celebrate popular sporting events held during the Melbourne Commonwealth Games a series of 16 50c coins were released by the Royal Australian Mint as well as a student designed 50c, a one dollar, $5 and $10 coins. The Mint was one of the sponsors of the Games and also designed and produced the winners' medals.
One of the first coins to be released in this 50 cent coin collection was the coin depicting Hockey. It was released as a collector coin and not issued for circulation. It was issued in a capsule in an informative card by itself and for inclusion in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games Sports Collection series. The individual 50c coins in the series were sold for issue price of $4.95.
The coin design is by RAM designer Wojciech Pietranik and depicts the sport in action and the Melbourne 2006 logo. The obverse is the standard portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, who officially opened the Games, by Ian Rank-Broadley. It is the standard dodecagonal shape 31.51mm in size and weighs 15.55g. It is made from cupro nickel which is 75% copper and 25% nickel. The card also features a sticker of 'Karak', a red-tailed black cockatoo and Games mascot indicating it is an official licensed product.
21,761 of these uncirculated coins were issued to collectors which includes 15,500 issued for inclusion in the complete collection folder.
The complete collection folder included the 16 sporting 50c, the student design 50c and the Queen's Baton Relay $5 coin. Initially these folders were sold as a starter pack which included the first 4 sporting 50c coins and the rest of the sporting 50c were sent out to collectors as they were released later in the year.
Posted by harrisk at November 29, 2010 8:52 AM
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