This
commemorative
silver coin is one piece from a set of six, which were issued to celebrate the Olympic sporting achievements of some
of Australia's best athletes. The series is called Olympic Heritage and was released in celebration of Australia's century
long participation in the Olympic games. The six coins were released in pairs over three years from 1994-1996. This coin
pays tribute to Shirley Strickland and was released in 1996 and paired with Betty Cuthbert. In 1994 Australia's first gold
medalists Edwin Flack and Sarah Durack were commemorated and in 1995 it was the turn of Dawn Fraser and Murray Rose who are
Australian athletes and living legends. The coins were struck into silver with a fantastic frosted reverse finish. This was
the first set of silver coins issued by the Royal Australian Mint and the series is a popular one.
The reverse of this coin was designed by Horst Hanhe and depicts Shirley
Strickland performing her favourite Gold Medal winning sport, hurdling. She is posed in the air as she leaps over a hurdle
and the legend SHIRLEY STRICKLAND is written beneath her. On the outer circle the legends read AUSTRALIA'S GREATEST OLYMPICS
on the top and the denomination 10 DOLLARS is bellow. The obverse features
the Raphael Maklouf portrait of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the
legend
running around the outer circle reads ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1996. The first pair that was released from the set was
issued in a plush green presentation box with space to house the additional four coins to complete the set. This also included
a booklet entitled AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC ROLL OF HONOUR which contains a complete list of the Australian Olympic medallists
from the year 1896 until the year the first coins of the series was issued, 1994. A Certificate of Authenticity was also
included and contained a short biography of each of the athletes featured in the series.
Shirley Strickland (1925-2004) was truly one of Australia's greatest ever athletes. Her greatest achievements include
winning seven Olympic medals over the course of three successive Olympic games.
(Australian Biography, 2013)
Strickland was fairly late getting into athletics and she had already graduated and begun lecturing at College in Perth
before she began serious training. She had a natural talent and by 1948 at the age of 23 had suddenly raced into the spot
light to become a national champion hurdler and sprinter. She was of course chosen for the team to go to the London Olympics
and was considered Australia's strongest contender. At this time she was fitting her training into a busy schedule, which
included a full-time job and a new marriage. She came away from the London Olympics with one silver and two bronze medals.
It was in Helsinki in 1952 that she won her first gold medal and by the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, at the age of 30 she
was being encouraged to retire. she chose to continue and her persistence and determination payed off as she came away with
a further two gold medals.
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