THE OFFICIAL SYDNEY 2000 OLYMPIC COIN PROGRAM

The official Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin program is the most significantly coin program in Australia's history, and arguably, internationally, as it commemorates both the Olympic Games and the New Millennium.

Essentially a miniature work of art, each coin has been thoroughly researched and forms an integral part of the whole collection, which tells the story of the Games and the cultural development and natural environment of Australia.

This landmark Collection features a number of firsts.

l For the first time in the history of Olympic and Australian legal tender coinage, colour appears on all the silver and all but two of the gold coins.

l The coins were the first in the world to carry the date of the Olympic Year, 2000.

l For the first time, an Olympic athlete has been involved in the design of Olympic coins.

STUART DEVLIN

Designs for the eight gold and sixteen silver coins of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin program have been created by Stuart Devlin, Goldsmith and Jeweller to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

A master of coin design, he is internationally acknowledged as the world's foremost coin designer of the twentieth century. Also known as a sculptor, Mr Devlin has been described in London's Investors' Chronicle as "arguably the greatest living goldsmith".

Born in Geelong, Australia, Mr Devlin studied goldsmithing in Australia before being awarded scholarships to study at the Royal College of Art in London and subsequently a Harkness Fellowship to study at Columbia University in New York.

On his return to Australia in the early 1960's, he was commissioned by the Australian Government to design the country's decimal coinage released in 1966. He returned to England to supervise work on the Australian coins at the Royal Mint and in 1965 decided to set up his business in the UK. In 1980, he was awarded the CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for his services to design. He was appointed goldsmith and jeweller to the Queen in 1982, and in 1996 he was elected Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, the supreme accolade in his profession.

Mr Devlin has designed coins for thirty-six countries. In the 1980's, he worked with The Royal Australian Mint and The Perth Mint in the development of designs for several commemorative coin issues. He was made an officer of the Order of Australia in the Bicentennial Australia Day Honours List in 1988.

NOVA PERIS-KNEEBONE

The reverse designs of the two silver coins (Festival of Dreaming and Sea change I) are the result of an artistic collaboration between Stuart Devlin and Nova Peris-Kneebone, whose original drawings form the basis of the coins' Aboriginal central designs.

They represent the first time that an Olympic athlete has been involved in the design of Olympic coins.

Ms Peris-Kneebone gained international recognition at the 1996 Olympic Games at Atlanta by becoming the first Australian Aboriginal athlete to win an Olympic Gold Medal, as a member of the victorious Australia's women's hockey team. Subsequently, she turned her considerably athlete skills to track and field competition.

A student of Aboriginal culture and heritage, Ms Peris-Kneebone's art focuses on traditional Aboriginal dreamtime stories.

She was named Young Australia of the Year in 1997 and the Northern Territory Sports Person of the Year in 1993 and 1997.

THE GOLD COIN COLLECTION

The eight designs in the Gold Coin series represent the Olympic and athlete ethos. Individual coins depict the athlete's journey, from the inspiration of the 2000 Games logo, through Dedication to the task, Preparation for the event, and final Achievement, superbly capturing the spirit of these, "the Athlete's Games".

Each coin features "P" mintmark denoting The Perth Mint as the mint of origin and bears the 2000 year date. The mintage is limited to only 30,000 coins coins of each design worldwide.

Nominal Specifications

THE SILVER COIN COLLECTION

Beyond the purely sporting aspect of the Games, their cultural and national significance have been addressed in the designs of the silver series.

The Silver Collection comprises a total of 16 coins, divided into two design series of eight coins. One series adopts the themes of the four Olympic Arts Festivals staged in the lead up to the Games, celebrating the story of Australia's cultural and social development.

The second series features Australian fauna and flora, a record of the nation's rich and fascinating heritage.

Both series are designed by Stuart Devlin, the world's foremost coin designer, and are remarkable for their complex and exquisitely detailed designs.

Their value as collectables is enhanced by several significant features: they all carry the Sydney 2000 logo and Olympic rings in colour (the subtle use of colour is a first for Australian legal tender coins) and all coins bear the date of the year 2000.

Nominal Specifications

THE BRONZE COLLECTION SPORTS COIN SERIES

"... significant memento of this proud event..."

This is the first Olympic coin series to dedicate one coin to each of the sports represented at the Games.

The resulting 28 bronze sports coin series represents a fascinating and significant memento of this proud event marking the turn of the new Millennium.

The official Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Collection album enhances and provides the ideal means of storing and displaying this valuable collection.

With a foreword from the President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the album includes a complete list of Olympic Games record holders, facts about each sport, and a sleeve to protect each of the coins in the series.

Nominal Specification