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Australia Voyage of Discovery

2006 Silver Proof Five Dollar

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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 reverse of the coin shows a design by Wojciech Pietranik of the Duyfken vessel in full sail with a compass to its right. It shows the dates 1606 and 2006. It also has the legend VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY DUYFKEN. The counter-stamp 'GZ' ('Groot Zuydtlant', meaning 'Unknown Southern Land') is located to the left of the ship. The obverse features the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing with tiara and earrings. It also contains the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2006 along with the denomination 5 DOLLARS.

'GZ' countermark on 2006-GZ (Voyage of Discovery) five dollar piece.

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.