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Australia Bicentenary

1988 Two Hundred Dollar

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The 200 Dollar Gold Bicentenary coin was issued in 1988 to commemorate 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet in New South Wales. The reverse of the coin was designed by H.MacBeth-Raebum and depicts the arrival of the First Fleet on the shores of Australia, led by Captain Cook and HMS Lady Nelson. The legend included on the reverse is "AUSTRALIA - TWO HUNDRED YERAS" and "SYDNEY COVE 1788" along with the denomination "TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS". The obverse features the Raphael Maklouf portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right facing, crowned with necklace and earrings. The obverse legend states "ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1988".

The first fleet consisted of 11 ships that left Great Britain to establish the first European Colony on Australia on the 13th of May 1787. The entire journey which included stops at Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope took a total of 252 days. On board all 11 ships were a total of 1044 passengers. This was made up of officers, their families, free settlers and convicts. The fleet was commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip who would become the first Governor of the colony at New South Wales and included the flagship HMS Sirius, HMS Supply, Charlotte, Scarborough and Friendship. The ships arrived over a 3 day period with HMS Supply arriving first on Botany Bay on the 18th January and the final ships of the fleet arriving on the 20th. It soon became evident that Botany Bay was not a suitable location to start the colony as they were unprotected, fresh water was sparse and the soil was poor. Phillip's went searching for somewhere more suitable and on the 26th January the colony was moved to Port Jackson.