5 Dollars - Elizabeth II 4th Portrait - Centenary of the Treaty of Versailles - Silver Proof

The Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, formally ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers — though its punishing reparations structure is widely credited with fueling the economic collapse and political resentment that preceded the Second World War. Australia was a signatory in its own right, a diplomatic first that reflected Prime Minister Billy Hughes's aggressive push for independent representation at Paris rather than absorption into the British imperial delegation. Hughes famously extracted reparations concessions and secured Australian control over the former German New Guinea territories under a League of Nations mandate.