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 dividing 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.

Coin Highlights:
Design commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the End of Australia's Involvement in the Vietnam War
Struck to the Mint's uncirculated standard
Worldwide mintage of 80,000 coins
Australian legal tender