Sydney's "Millennium Games" will boast one of the most exciting Olympic coin programmes ever. Australia hosted the Olympic Games in 1956 in Melbourne, but at that point the Australian government did not issue commemorative coins to mark the Olympics.

The official Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Program is a partnership between the Royal Australian Mint and The Perth Mint and has been developed under the auspices of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG).

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Program consists of 8 gold, 16 silver and 28 bronze coins which are being released from October 1997 to March 2000. The coin designs are linked to the sporting, cultural and environmental themes of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

The Olympic coins are issued to celebrate and commemorate the Olympic Games of the XXVII Olympiad of the Modern Era in Australia. There will be an uncirculated base metal series of coins representing the 28 sports which will be present in Sydney.