Anzac Centenary Advisory Board chair, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, plans to collect every one of the Royal Australian Mint's "centenary of service" military memorial coins and hopes others will do the same.
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The former chief of defence force, who was asked to head the body advising on the Gallipoli centenary after stepping down from the ADF's top job in July 2011, was the master of ceremonies at a preview of the first proof coin to be released on Friday morning.
The 99.9 per cent pure silver coin (compared to sterling silver's 92.5 per cent pure) is already on sale at the mint store. Designed as a collectible, it has a face value of $5 and retails for $85.
Air Chief Marshal Houston was visibly enthralled as he watched mint press operator Rattana Tran run off a small number of the coins.
''I've never been here before (to the mint),'' he said. ''It is the first time I have seen a coin being struck.''
Three proof coins, two of silver and one of gold, are planned for this year. This one, the first off the mark, is a triangular ''Lest We Forget'' five dollar piece that carries an image of the hills of France overlayed with a Flander's poppy. It is inscribed with the verse ''At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them''.
The next proof coins off the rank, one of silver with a one dollar face value and one of gold with a $10 face value, are to be released towards the end of the year to mark the centenary of the departure of the first AIF convoy that carried the troops who fought at Gallipoli.
A total of almost 40 coins, the majority of which will be in base metals, are to be released over the next four years to mark 100 years of military service to their country by Australians, not just those who had fought in WWI.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said more than two million Australians had served in uniform and that of these at least 102,000 had laid down their lives for their country.
Ross MacDiarmid, the chief executive officer of the mint, said his institution had forged a very strong bond with the Australian War Memorial in recent years and welcomed special guest, AWM director, Dr Brendan Nelson.
Mr MacDiarmid said the commemorative coins meant a lot to him on a personal level. ''My father fought and was wounded in WWII,'' he said. ''He later became a very passionate guide at the war memorial.''
Dr Nelson said that while he might not be collecting all of the coins there were some he definitely wanted to keep for his grandchildren.
These included coins being struck to recognise the Australian Flying Corps, of which his grandfather had been a member, and the Battle of the Cocos where the (first) HMAS Sydney drove the German raider, Emden, onto the rocks before capturing her crew.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said the bulk of the work of the Anzac advisory committee was now complete and that he was very happy with the way things had turned out.
He plans to enjoy as much of the centenary of Anzac as possible as a private citizen and a grandfather.
''I am taking a break later this year and will spend much of it in Europe, walking the Western Front Remembrance Trail,'' he said.
