Tag: Australia
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2024 Around Australia Flights PMC
A medallion with spinning propellors Cover This Postal Medallion Cover (PMC) from Australia Post commemorates the centenary of the first two flights to circumnavigate Australia. The piece uses a four-colour palette: The colour theme works really well and contrasts the two events nicely with each other. The reverse has details of the flights on a…
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RFS Macarthur Zone Challenge Coin
A fire brigade challenge coin from New South Wales, Australia Challenge Coins Immediately after posting the Code 9 “Senses” Challenge coin, I was asked “What is a Challenge Coin?” Challenge coins originated in the military, although how far back is hard to be certain. Peter Morrell goes back to Roman times and how some of…
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Code 9 “Senses” Challenge coin
A grounding tool to help first responders The Code 9 Foundation From Code9PTSD.org.au: “The Code 9 Foundation provides a place of support for current & veteran professional first responders & 000 operators (Emergency call takers)* who live with PTSD, depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions that result from their service to the community. This…
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2024 Koalas in Danger PMC set
PMCs helping save Australia’s endangered Koalas PMC The set comprises three PMCs, which each feature cute images of koalas. On the back of each is the (same) text: “Our iconic Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is facing a crisis. In its native habitat on the eastern and southern coastal regions of the mainland, the Koala is at…
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2006 Commonwealth Games PMC set
The first (medallion) PMCs from Australia Post Timeline to the first PMCs (Image of the first page of the first Philatelic Bulletin and issue 282 of the Stamp Bulletin, courtesy Australia Post) Firstly, this piece is about the first official Australia Post issued PMC. I am aware of other PMCs issued by other countries /…
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2019 PMC Moon Landing 50th Anniversary
A big medallion for a big milestone July 20th, 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts landing on the moon. This was the first time that humans had set foot on our nearest celestial neighbour. It also fulfilled the goal, uttered by US President Kennedy on May 25, 1961, that: “I believe…
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1963 Australian Penny keyring
One of the last Australian pre-decimal coins kept as a souvenir Obverse The obverse of the coin features the Mary Gillick portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Lettering around the edge reads “ELIZABETH·II·DEI·GRATIA·REGINA·F:D:”, which translates to “Elizabeth II by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith”. The 1953 Penny, and 1953-4 Half Penny of…
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2024 Gold Coast Suns Error PNC
An error on a football PNC Gold Coast Suns (Five players from the Gold Coast Suns AFLW team. Photo AFLQ.com.au) Australian Rules Football is a distinctly Australian game. The highest tier is the Australian Football League (AFL), which has both men’s and women’s (AFLW) competitions, each with 18 teams currently. AFL uses an oval-shaped ball…
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2024 Marine Emblems 2 PMCs
A second series of Marine Emblem PMCs with cut-out medallions In March this year, Australia Post released a series of three “Marine Emblems” PNCs, featuring: Now, in July, they have followed up with three more medallion PNCs, this time featuring: These three have the same overall design as the earlier releases, however, use paler colours…
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2023 Australia King’s Birthday Medallion PNC
A PNC for a holiday A change in holiday In 2023, Australia Post released a medallion PNC to commemorate the King’s Birthday. This was a momentous occasion as it was the first time in 72 years that the holiday was for a King’s birthday, rather than a Queen. As someone from the Commonwealth, my head…
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2016 PNC 400th Anniversary Dirk Hartog’s landing
A large medallion for a large milestone Unknown South Land (Early Dutch map of Australia (Hollandia Nova) showing much of the west and north of the country. Map from Swaen.com) Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement…
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2014 Centenary of Military Aviation & Submarines PNC
A well-presented PNC for a pair of centenaries Obverse When we think of military aircraft, and of submarines, actively engaged in a war, most of us don’t go back past WWII. This PNC reminds us that both types of craft were active right back to the beginning of WWI. Fittingly, the PNC features two coins…
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2024 Marine Emblems PMCs
A set showcasing three state emblems on cut-out medallions Obverse Here is a set of three brightly coloured Postal Medallic Covers. They work well together, so I’m giving them all equal billing rather than trying to highlight just one. These showcase the marine emblems of three states of Australia. I must admit, I didn’t realise…
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2024 Australia $1 PNC “Out of this World”
The first Australian PNC featuring King Charles III* Front After a wait of 18 months since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the first Australian King Charles III coin has made it to a Postal Numismatic Cover. The theme is “Out of this World: Australia in Space”. The envelope features a nighttime view of Earth…
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2024 Lunar New Year PMC
The Year of the Dragon Lunar New Year The Lunar New Year is a very popular time for commemorative pieces of all kinds. Australia Post generally release at least one coin PNC, and at least one medallion PNC. As of 11th Feb 2024 (the morning after Lunar New Year), a search for “Year of the…
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2022 75th Anniversary of Peacekeeping PNC
Remembering peacekeeping on Armistice day Here is a PNC with a simple, effective design. Broadly blue, the colour of UN peacekeepers, and with the main theme being a dove holding an olive branch, a universal symbol of peace. The 11th November is “Remembrance day” or “Armistice day”. At 11am on 11 November 1918, the guns…
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2019 Centenary of First UK-Aus flight
A great use of the PNC envelope to show the subject In 1903 the Wright brothers famously flew. Although not the first flight, or even the first aeroplane flight, it was the first photograph of one – proving that pics or it didn’t happen isn’t a new phenomena. Within about a decade, by around 1914,…
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2014 Centenary of King George Stamps PNC
A follow-up impressive medallion The 2013 Centenary of Commonwealth Postage Stamps PNC commemorated the very first Australian designed postage stamps. Those stamps featured the very Australian design of a kangaroo on a map of Australia. The Kangaroo and Map stamp issue, introduced in 1913, was considered by many not to be sufficiently respectful of Britain.…
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2023 Sydney Harbour Bridge 50th Anniversary
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…
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2021 First Nations Australians $2 coins
A set of three indigenous themed coins Downies Collectibles, an Australian coin dealer, produced a presentation card containing the three First Nations Australians-themed coins produced by the Royal Australian mint in 2021. The three coins are: First, a note regarding terms: The AIATSIS website states: “‘Indigenous Australian’ is a very general term that covers two…
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2020 Australia Donation Dollar
The World’s First One Dollar Coin Designed to be Donated In 2020, the Royal Australian Mint embarked on a project to produce “millions of daily reminders to give“. “The Mint … intends to distribute millions of these Donation Dollar coins in to circulation over the coming years – one for every Australian. Each of these…
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1988 Australia Bicentenary dollar
A coin which might be controversial today Matthew Thompson from Thompson’s coins, posted a video of his three favourite Australian dollar coins you can find in change. This is a topic I really like – mints release so many “collector” coins, many of which are certainly beautiful. But to me, coins which CIRCULATED, coins which…
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1975 Cornish Festival medallion
Here is a medallion commemorating the 1975 Kernewek Lowender Cornish festival. This was the second such festival which started in 1973. The festival still runs every two years. 2023 was its 50th year. The Yorke Penninsula is on the South #Australia coast, just east of the capital city, Adelaide. Featured in the centre of the…
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Superb Fruit Dove PNC
Postal Numismatic Covers, or PNCs, are a popular issue in Australia particularly. Other countries have issued them, but none to the extent Australia does. The covers are similar to a First Day Cover the post office issues with stamps, PNCs also feature a coin, or medallion. The 2021 Doves and Pigeons PNC features a pretty…