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Australia Baton Relay

2006 Silver Proof Five Dollar

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The Queen's Baton Relay commemorative five dollar coin was issued in 2006. The reverse was designed by Peter Soobik and shows the official Melbourne Games logo along with the Queens Baton Relay insignia. This beautiful design also shows a Melbourne bridge and the legend "MELBOURNE 2006 XVII COMMONWEALTH GAMES" and the denomination "5 DOLLARS". The obverse features an Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing with tiara and earrings. The legend "ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2006" is also present. The coin is presented in a blue case which matches the themed colour of the games along with the official games logo. There is a numbered certificate of authenticity and a booklet giving details about the baton. The mintage was limited to just 10,000 coins.

The Queen's Baton Relay has been a great tradition of the Commonwealth Games since 1958. The Baton carries Her Majesty's message to the athletes from Buckingham Palace, London, to Australia. This baton will travel more than 180,000 kilometres and visit all 71 Nations of the Commonwealth in one year and one day making the Melbourne 2006 Queens Baton Relay the worlds longest and most inclusive relay. The baton will be carried across the globe - over land, air and sea - by thousands of relay runners and on many different modes of transport. The revolutionary baton contains state-of-the-art technical features, including a microphone, GPS and two tiny baton cam cameras.The Australian journey of the Queen's Baton Relay in 2006 took 50 days and travelled to every state and territory in Australia.

The Baton arrived in Sydney by plane with a great celebration on the 24th January. Each day was meticulously planned and the first leg was from Castlereagh to Parramatta in Sydney (Melbourne 2006, 2013) . The second day included stops at the Sydney Opera House, Randwick Racecourse, Circular Quay, Cronulla and Manly. Days 13 & 14 started at Mount Isa and travelled by plane to Alice Springs where it linked up with 'The Ghan', a famous train that runs between Adelaide and Darwin, continuing to Darwin via Katherine. The final day saw the baton arrive at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where the opening ceremony took place.