2017-07-19 Wed

The Trans-Australian Railway which opened on 22 October 1917 celebrates its 100th anniversary! To celebrate this centenary of the Trans-Australian Railway, The Perth Mint in conjunction with Australian Post has issued a Postal Numismatic Cover featuring a stamp and a coin.

This grand railway line which ran between Port Augusta in South Australia and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia opened after five years of construction work across the Nullarbor Desert. The railway line proved as a nation-building infrastructure as it linked the east and western coasts of Australia.

The Trans-Australian Railway includes a 478 kilometres stretch of dead-straight track which is the world's longest! The railways provided the vital platform for successful negotiations to encourage Western Australia to join the Commonwealth of Australia and establish the Australian Federation.

A Special Postal Numismatic cover includes two official Australia Post $1 stamps featuring iconic advertising posters from 1930 and 1960. The first shows a figure on a camel viewing a G-class locomotive as it speeds across the desert towards Perth, and the second displays the first diesel locomotive GM1, in service between 1951 and 1967. The stamps are postmarked for the first day of issue and the envelope includes Australia Post’s Seal of Authenticity.

A 1 dollar coin is struck by The Perth Mint from aluminium bronze with the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the 2017 year-date and the monetary denomination are shown on the coin’s obverse. The reverse depicts the Trans-Australian Railway with the inscription “100th Anniversary” and the years ‘1917-2017’.