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Australia Tasman

1993 Proof Five Dollar

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This $5 dollar silver proof coin bears the image of Abel Tasman and is one coin out of a 5 piece set. 'The Explorers' is the title of one of the Masterpieces in Silver proof coin sets, which was released in two parts in 1993 and 1994. Each of the two parts contains five coins, which commemorate the explorations done throughout Australia by various explorers. The other 9 coins that make up the complete set each feature the image of one important explorer, with the exception of one which bears the faces of three men Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth.

This coin commemorating Abel Tasman is taken from the first half of the 'The Explorers' set released in 1993, from which the remaining four coins commemorate the explorations carried out by Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, mentioned above, Cook, Flinders and of course the first explorers of the continent, the Aborigines. The five coins that make up the second half, released in 1994 commemorate explorers Sturt, Leichhardt, McDouall-Stuart, Forrest and Mawson. The reverse of this coin bears the portrait of Abel Tasman, the first European to land on Tasmania, against the map of Australia. The reverse was designed by Vladimir Gottwald and has the legend 5 DOLLARS slightly overlapping the map at the top right as well as his name ABEL TASMAN written underneath. The obverse features the traditional effigy of Queen Elizabeth II designed by Raphael Maklouf and the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1993. The packaging, in which this first half of the set was presented was a simple black box with the text 1993 MASTERPIECES IN SILVER written in block silver letters at the top centre and a logo representing The Explorers. A certificate of authenticity was included within the box which describes the coins and their designers.

Abel Tasman, born in 1625 was a Dutch seafarer who made some famous and important voyages under the service of the United East India Company. He made some very significant discoveries very early on and arrived in Australia and New Zealand well before the era of James Cook. His expeditions in the 1640's were originally intended to find out more about New Holland (Australia) but when bad weather caused him to miss Australia altogether, it led to the discovery of Tasmania. He named the island Van Diemen's Land and navigated around landing at a number of bays and planting the Dutch flag. On the same voyage he discovered New Zealand and his mapping made it evident that the now Australia was not part of a larger land mass. On his return, the results of his voyage were found to be disappointing as he had not discovered any gold or land considered wealthy. As a results Australia was not considered to be a place of interest until over 100 years later and the voyages of explorer James Cook. (Australian History, 2013)