Australia 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Sports Collection Series -Badminton 50c
Badminton has been played at every Commonwealth Games since 1966 and was the first racquet sport to be included in the Games. The events at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006 were one of the biggest on the world Badminton calendar. The Badminton results were dominated by Malaysia and England taking home the majority of the medals, sadly no medals for Australia. Of the 59 gold medals competed for in Commonwealth Games history Australia has won just two.
To celebrate the 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 winning gold, silver and bronze medals.
The first release in this 50 cent coin series included Basketball, Hockey, Shooting and Weightlifting coins. The second release included the Cycling coin and this release, the Badminton coin. It was minted as a collector coin and not released into 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 Badminton 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.
22,270 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 (May 2005) 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. This Badminton coin was in the second release in July 2005.
Posted by harrisk at December 1, 2010 9:22 AM
Subscribe to our Newsletter
