A PNC and PMC to mark the occasion

The 20th October 2023 is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Opera House. To commemorate the event, the Royal Australian mint released a non circulating, Aluminium-Bronze 50c piece. This is unusual as circulating 50c pieces in Australia are copper-nickel, so this one has a gold appearance rather than silver. Australia Post released a commemorative Postal Numismatic Cover (PNC) featuring the coin, an image of the Opera House, stamp, and a cancellation mark showing the sails of the building. The cancellation mark is dated 10th October 2023 and postmarked Sydney NSW 2000.

The coin features the memorial obverse for Queen Elizabeth II. The reverse shows the building with decorations (confetti?) in the air.

Australia Post also released a commemorative Postal Medallic Cover (PMC) – An envelope featuring a medallion rather than a coin. One thing I quite like about PNCs and PMCs is that the envelope gives a chance for a large colour image of the subject. The PNC in this case has a view of one of the sails, while the PMC has an aerial view of the Opera House jutting out into Sydney Harbour, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge which is nearby. Just to the left of the medallion is one of Sydney’s well-known ferries, heading to the main dock at Circular Quay just out of view to the left. The Sydney Harbour and Manly Ferry tokens are very interesting to collect.

I really like the way the Opera House is “striped” on the medal, rather than being either empty or solid. It really brings out the design.

Sydney Opera House 50 Years
Australia’s most recognisable landmark, the Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II 50 years ago on 20 October 1973. Acclaimed throughout the world and recognised es human creative genius, this extraordinary building was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon (1918-2008), following an international design competition. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2007 as “a masterpiece of 20th century architecture”. The Sydney Opera House is also Australia’s number one tourist destination, welcoming more than 10.9 million visitors a year. It is also one of the world’s busiest performing arts centres, presenting more than 2,000 shows, 363 days per year, for more than 1.5 million people.

Stamp and cover design: Jason Watts, Australia Post Design Studio. Stamp photographs: Manny Moreno (north elevation), Jesse Hammer (west elevation) – both Unsplash.com Pack images: Caleb (cover), Kevin Bosc (card) – both Unsplash.com
Images of the Sydney Opera House used with permission – Sydney Opera House Trust (2023)
Australia Post

The Postal Medallic Cover has an RRP $35.00
The Postal Numismatic Cover is listed as:

2023 Issue 28
This postal numismatic cover is limited to 7,500.
RRP $25.95

Both the PMC and PNC had the same cancellation mark. The PNC has a $3 stamp showing detail of several sails (like the envelope it is on). The PMC has a $1.20 stamp showing slightly further view of more of the building. The cost of posting a letter within Australia is $1.20 in 2023.

Australia post doesn’t always release both a PNC and PMC on the same subject. Sometimes it releases only one. There are usually more PNCs released in a year than PMCs. Medallic covers tend to be more expensive. Normally PNCs are $18.95 with Medallic covers $30. Licensed pieces like these are slightly more expensive. The PNC was $25.95 with the PMC being $35 (All RRP from Australia Post). PNCs are often more highly sought after, although as with anything, I would encourage anyone to collect what they LIKE rather than what they think might go up in value. A year after release, some PNCs can sell for half their original RRP – and some can sell for ten times the original price. I got both of these because I liked the designs. There are many other PNCs I have ignored completely because I wasn’t as interested in them.