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Australia Immigrants

2000-P Proof Five Dollar

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The Sydney 2000 Olympics Five Dollar 'Immigrants' 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, it has an intricate design with a ring of sailing ships andaeroplanesfrom different era's around the inside edge of the coin. Inside this are nine figureheads depicting the immigrants that have settled in Australia. Included between the sailing ships is theofficialSydney 2000Olympicslogo 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 andearringsand 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.

The First immigrants to Australia were mainly the criminals shipped from Britain.The first free immigrants arrived in the early 1790s, but the numbers were small. In the early 1800s Britain had poverty and unemployment and the numbers rose as the wool industry took off in Australia. The Irish soon followed as their country suffered the same fate and then the Gold Rush between 1851 to 1860. During this period, approximately 50,000 immigrants were arriving each year. Workers were also needed for the Queensland plantations and the government made deliberate attempts to attract women to Australia as there was an imbalance between the male and female population (Australian Government, 2012) .