2023 $2 Vietnam War – 50th Anniversary of the end of Australia’s Involvement C Mintmark Coin

The Vietnam War was Australia’s longest of the twentieth century. Over a decade the commitment grew from a military training team to a battalion and then a task force. Each of the Army, Navy and Air Force were involved. The Army playing the biggest role, basing its operations largely in South Vietnam’s Phuoc Tuy Province. Some 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam, 521 lost their lives and many more were wounded before the last Australian troops came home in December 1973.

Vietnam had known war for several decades before Australia’s involvement. Centuries of French colonial rule ended with a Japanese invasion and occupation during 1940 – 1945. A French attempt to resume control resulted in a war for independence which ended with Vietnam diving into communist North and a nominally democratic South. A communist insurgency and political turmoil in the South drew in the United States and South Vietnam’s regional ally, Australia in 1962. The United States and her allies withdrew from Vietnam in 1973. South Vietnam surrendered to the North in 1975.

Australia’s first troops arrived in South Vietnam in 1962. For the next decade, Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen served in a war against North Vietnamese-backed communist guerrillas and the North Vietnamese Army. Most fought in Phuoc Tuy province, site of the Australian Task Force and Logistics bases and scene of many encounters with enemy forces, from larger battles like Long Tan, Coral / Balmoral, Baria, Binh Ba and Nui Le, to patrol scale actions and smaller skirmishes.

DESIGN

The reverse features a a helicopter in flight surrounded by a ring of colour. The reverse features the inscription “VIETNAM WAR”, the C mintmark and the monetary denomination.

The obverse features Jody Clark’s memorial effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizbeth II as well as the 2023 year-date.

PRESENTATION

Each coin comes encapsulated in a themed presentation card.

Technical Specifications

ABOUT ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT