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Australia Phar Lap

2000 Proof Five Dollar

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In 1930 the legendary thoroughbred Phar Lap won the Melbourne Cup. The champion horse and his sudden and suspicious death are key events in Australian cultural and sporting history. The Royal Australian Mint has celebrated the 70th anniversary of Phar Lap's Melbourne Cup victory with two five dollar commemorative coins.This proof five dollar piece was designed by Vladimir Gottwald and produced from aluminium bronze. The reverse features a depiction of Phar Lap racing along with the legend "PHAR LAP 1930 FIVE DOLLARS" etched within the artistsimpression of a race track. The obverse shows an Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II with the legend "ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2000."

Phar Lap (1926-1932) was Australia's wonder horse during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. A winner of 37 of his 51 starts, he started favourite in three successive Melbourne Cups, the only horse in the long history of Australia's most famous race afforded that distinction. His untimely death came in suspicious circumstances after winning the "Agua Caliente" in America. The name Phar Lap was derived from a Thai word meaning "lightning" or "sky flash". His skeleton can be seen in the Melbourne Museum and is still the most popular exhibit (Museum Victoria, 2013) .