Canberra exists because Sydney and Melbourne couldn't agree. The federation compromise of 1901 required a capital city at least 100 miles from Sydney, built on land ceded by New South Wales — a constitutional fix to colonial rivalry that produced one of the few purpose-built national capitals of the twentieth century. Ground was broken in 1913, with both King George V's representative and Prime Minister Andrew Fisher officiating at separate foundation stones on the same day.
The pad-printed color application on this issue was among the Royal Australian Mint's more ambitious uses of the technique at the time, layering additional detail onto the struck surface rather than relying on the die alone.
Canberra exists because Sydney and Melbourne couldn't agree. The federation compromise of 1901 required a capital city at least 100 miles from Sydney, built on land ceded by New South Wales — a constitutional fix to colonial rivalry that produced one of the few purpose-built national capitals of the twentieth century. Ground was broken in 1913, with both King George V's representative and Prime Minister Andrew Fisher officiating at separate foundation stones on the same day.
The pad-printed color application on this issue was among the Royal Australian Mint's more ambitious uses of the technique at the time, layering additional detail onto the struck surface rather than relying on the die alone.