?
The Voyage of Discovery Five Dollar coin was issued by the Royal Australian Mint in recognition of 400 years since the
first landing on Australian soil of any European. The
The Duyfken (translates as 'little dove') was a small Dutch ship which was only armed with a few small cannons but was fast and very manoeuvrable. Its captain was Willem Janszoon and his mission was to be a scout and pathfinder. It was he that made the first authenticated landing in Australia by a European by chance back in 1606 whilst looking for the islands of King Solomon's mines. He also assisted in mapping some parts of the Australian coastline. This was an important milestone in the discovery of the continent. So much so that in 1999 a replica Duyfken project was launched in Fremantle, Western Australia (Wikipedia, 2013) . The project was led by led by Fremantle community leader Michael G. Kailis, who unfortunately passed away in June 1999, only weeks before the ship was due to be launched. The cost of the project was $3.7 million and work started on the drawing board back in 1993. They used the original skills of shipbuilding from Dutch method which proved so successful. The Duyfken is believed to be the only ship operating in the world using a traditional Dutch whipstaff for steering.
Find out what dealers are paying with a subscription.
Subscribe now!Find out what coins have actually sold for and where with a Standard/Professional subscription.
Subscribe now!