THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
REIGN OF ELIZABETH II (1952-PRESENT)
THE AUSTRALIAN NUGGET SERIES - AUSTRALIAN PROSPECTOR - 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST GOLD RUSH
GOLD 1 oz MULTI-COLORED $100 COIN
CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 70 ULTRA CAMEO
ONLY 1323 MINTED!
OBV: PORTRAIT HEAD OF ELIZABETH II RIGHT WEARING TIARA; DENOMINATION BENEATH.
REV: WITHIN CIRCLE, PROSPECTOR CENTER FACING, KEELING IN WATER PANNING FOR GOLD, SHORE AND MOUNTAINS IN BACKGROUND; MOUNTAIN TO RIGHT AND SKY IN COLOR; DATE AT BOTTOM.
ALTHOUGH A FEW GOLD FINDS HAD HAPPENED IN AUSTRALIA BEFORE 1851, IT WAS IN THAT YEAR THE FIRST OF THE GOLD RUSHES BEGAN. THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES HAD SUPPRESSED THE INFORMATION ON PREVIOUS FINDS BECAUSE IT WAS THOUGHT IT WOULD REDIRECT THE AVAILABLE WORKFORCE AND DESTABILIZE THE ECONOMY.
THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH HAPPENED IN 1848, AND MANY LEFT AUSTRALIA TO SEARCH FOR GOLD THERE. AFTER RETHINKING THE PREVIOUS POSITION, THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES PETITIONED THE COLONIAL OFFICE IN ENGLAND TO OFFER REWARDS FOR PAYABLE GOLD AND OPEN UP AUSTRALIA TO EXPLOITATION OF MINERAL RESOURCES.
IN MAY, 1851, PROSPECTOR EDWARD HARGRAVES CLAIMED TO HAVE DISCOVERED GOLD NEAR ORANGE, NSW, AUSTRALIA. HE CALLED THE SITE OPHIR AFTER THE FABLED LAND OF RICHES NAMED IN THE BIBLE. HARGRAVES HAD BEEN TO CALIFORNIA AND HAD LEARNED NEW TECHNIQUES SUCH AS PANNING AND CRADLING.
BY YEARS' END, THE GOLD RUSH HAD SPREAD TO MANY OTHER PARTS OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
THE GOLD RUSHES CHANGED AUSTRALIA FROM A LAND OF CONVICT COLONIES TO ONE OF PROGRESSIVE CITIES, STIMULATED FROM THE INFLUX OF FREE IMMIGRANTS, BRINGING WITH THEM NEW SKILLS AND PROFESSIONS TO HELP THE BURGEONING ECONOMY. THESE IMMIGRANTS, CALLED "DIGGERS", HAD A COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE TO AUTHORITY WHICH LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW AND UNIQUE NATIONAL IDENTITY.
BETWEEN 1851 AND 1871, AUSTRALIA'S POPULATION TRIPLED WITH THE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS FROM OVERSEAS, AS THE COUNTRY BECAME A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
VICTORIA'S FIRST GOLD RUSH BEGAN IN 1851 AS WELL, AND IN 1854 THE VICTORIAN GOLD DISCOVERY COMMITTEE WROTE:
“The discovery of the Victorian Goldfields has converted a remote dependency into a country of worldwide fame; it has attracted a population, extraordinary in number, with unprecedented rapidity; it has enhanced the value of property to an enormous extent; it has made this the richest country in the world; and, in less than three years, it has done for this colony the work of an age, and made its impulses felt in the most distant regions of the earth.”
CONTAINS 31.1 GRAMS OF 999 GOLD 1OZ AGW
32.5MM IN DIAMETER
PERTH MINT
