Twenty Cents 2012 Bombing of Darwin, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The Australian 20 cent coin was first introduced with decimalisation on 14 February 1966 when it replaced the pre-decimal Australian florin, to which it is equal in size and mass. The original reverse design by Stuart Devlin has not been changed since its introduction.

The denomination is occasionally used by both the Royal Australian Mint and the Perth Mint to issue collector coins, which are legal tender in Australia - such as this one.

This coin commemorates 70 years since the bombing of Darwin.

The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in Darwin's harbour and the town's two airfields in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to contest the invasion of Timor and Java during World War II.

Darwin was lightly defended relative to the size of the attack, and the Japanese inflicted heavy losses upon Allied forces at little cost to themselves. The urban areas of Darwin also suffered some damage from the raids and there were a number of civilian casualties. More than half of Darwin's civilian population left the area permanently, before or immediately after the attack.

The two Japanese air raids were the first, and largest, of more than 100 air raids against Australia during 1942 - 1943. The event happened just four days after the Fall of Singapore, when a combined Commonwealth force surrendered to the Japanese, the largest surrender in British history.

No coins of this type were issued into circulation.