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Australia Air

2000-C Proof Five Dollar

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The Sydney 2000 Olympics Five Dollar 'Air' Silver Coin is part of a collection containing 16 pieces. It was struck in sterling silver and were designed to represent both Australia's cultural history and environment. The set comprises of Festival of the Dreaming, Kangaroo, Early settlement, Great White Shark, Immigrants, Frilled Neck Lizard, Commerce, Emu, Sports and the Arts, Koala, Sydney Harbour, Platypus, Opera House, Echidna, Air and Kookaburra. They are all in a Five Dollar denomination. The set was released in 2000 following the successful Olympic Games from Sydney, Australia.

The reverse of the coin, designed by Stuart Devlin has an intricate design with a ring of various weather conditions depicted by clouds, rain and the sun around the inside edge of the coin. Inside this is a landscape of a bay with numerous gulls flying and a solitary one-man dinghy in the water. Included at the base of the design is the official Sydney 2000 Olympics logo with the five coloured rings signifying the Olympics. The obverse features the traditional Raphael Maklouf 4th portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, crowned, facing right, with necklace and earrings and is surrounded by the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000 5 DOLLARS. This coin along with the remaining fifteen to complete the set was originally packaged in a wooden display case and with a numbered certificate. On the outside of the lid is stamped with the text THE SYDNEY 2000 OLYMPIC SILVER COIN COLLECTION and the inner side with ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT and the PERTH MINT.

Air was chosen as an Olympic coin because it represents so much about Australia. The country is generally viewed as a place with plenty of fresh air, beautiful beaches and open spaces. This creates a healthy environment, but with the ever-increasing burden from pollution it is not easy to maintain. The Australian government puts the pollution into three segments - transport, residential and industrial (Australian Government, 2013) . It is an ongoing battle to keep air quality at a premium level. The government doesn't just try to control it though, it actively seeks to reduce it. By promoting cycling and public transport, this can have a big effect on air quality. These days, everyone is encouraged to be 'green' and try to contribute less to their carbon footprint. So long as progress is made, Australians can continue to enjoy one of the cleanest places in the world to live.