2016 50c Uncirculated Coin - The Battle of Fromelles The Western Front 1916–2016

2016 50c Uncirculated Coin - The Battle of Fromelles The Western Front 1916–2016

From the trenches of Fromelles, this coin design commemorates the efforts of our soldiers who fought, and celebrates the lives of those who were lost at Fromelles. One hundred years on from the stark events written in our history, this commemorative coin will be cherished by military historians, coin collectors and those whose families served in conflict.

HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE
The 5th Division had been in France just two weeks when it was committed to Australia’s first major action on the Western Front. Fighting alongside British troops near the village of Fromelles on 19 July 1916, its objective was to capture and hold a line of German trenches in an effort to prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements to the Somme. The action was both costly and unsuccessful, and resulted in more than 5500 Australian casualties in just a few hours. Private Walter Downing recalled seeing hundreds of men “mown down in the flicker of an eyelid, like great rows of teeth knocked from a comb”. After Gallipoli, Australia’s commitment to the Great War shifted to the battlefields of France and Belgium. Follow the trail of remembrance throughout 2016–2018 as the Royal Australian Mint produces a series of coins related to the battles of the Western Front.

FEATURES AND DESIGN
• Coin’s reverse was skilfully composed from a variety of historic photographs documenting the lives of the 5th Division of the Western Front
• Packaged in a presentation card featuring specific subject matter imagery
• Part of the 2016–2018 commemorations for the battles fought on the Western Front
• A continuation of the Royal Australian Mint’s Official Anzac Centenary Coin Program
• Finished to the Royal Australian Mint high uncirculated quality standard
• Low uncirculated product mintage of only 15 000
• Obverse features Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II effigy sculpted by Ian Rank-Broadley
• Australian legal tender