The First Fleet bicentennial in 1988 triggered an extraordinary volume of commemorative output from the Royal Australian Mint, and this issue was part of a broader program marking 200 years since the arrival of eleven ships at Botany Bay — and subsequently Sydney Cove — in January 1788. Australia's bicentenary was politically charged; Aboriginal rights groups organized significant protests against celebrations framing colonization as a founding moment, and the tension shaped how official commemorative programs were received publicly.
The third portrait of Elizabeth II, by Raphael Maklouf, had only been adopted by the RAM in 1985.
The First Fleet bicentennial in 1988 triggered an extraordinary volume of commemorative output from the Royal Australian Mint, and this issue was part of a broader program marking 200 years since the arrival of eleven ships at Botany Bay — and subsequently Sydney Cove — in January 1788. Australia's bicentenary was politically charged; Aboriginal rights groups organized significant protests against celebrations framing colonization as a founding moment, and the tension shaped how official commemorative programs were received publicly.
The third portrait of Elizabeth II, by Raphael Maklouf, had only been adopted by the RAM in 1985.