Australian Five Dollar Coin 1988

$12.00

Description

1988 was Australia’s Bicentenary year.  Three million of these five dollar commemorative coins were struck to celebrate the official opening of Australia’s (new) Parliament House by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 9th May, 1988.  It features Parliament house on one side and QEII on the reverse.

One could purchase this coin from the Commonwealth Bank as a keepsake.  If you took it back to any major Australian bank today, they would exchange it for a five dollar note.  We think they have much more value as a novelty for the grand kids who will have never seen a $5 coin before & never a coin so big! It measures 38mm in diameter. (Almost 4 cm).

They are also valuable for collectors who can match it up with their 1927 Australian Florin, which was also a commemorative struck to celebrate the opening of the (old) parliament house.  This coin was 92.5% silver and arguably one of the prettiest Australian coins ever produced.  My grandfather who was a child at the time (and whose father was part of the Lighthorse ceremony at the opening), told me people queued down the street to obtain one or two from the bank.  Just two million were produced and like this coin, most were never spent, rather collected as a keepsake.

M&S Coins have built up a stash of these $5 coins, and the 1927 Florin featured on this website, so you may order more than one if you wish.