At the height of the 1850s Victorian gold rush, four newly arrived Americans, Freeman Cobb and three colleagues, saw the opportunity to launch a transport business, using horse-drawn carriages like those in the American west. From that first journey in 1853, Cobb & Co coach routes crisscrossed Eastern Australia, establishing a reputation for speed and reliability.

Although railways progressively connected major towns, Cobb & Co instead linked more distant communities. Horses needed to be changed every 15-25 kilometres at a network of waystations, often inns, directly contributing to the opening of rural Australia. Cobb & Co’s final journey came on 14 August 1924, ending the era of horse-drawn transport in Australia. The reason – the advent of reliable motor vehicles.

That last ever journey, 65 kilometres from Surat to Yuleba in southern Queensland, is commemorated with the Royal Australian Mint’s stunning new $1 collector coin.

Coin Highlights:

• Coin’s reverse design depicts a stylised scene of a Cobb & Co Coach and passengers as they are about to reach a station, designed by A. Ball
• Struck to the Mint’s uncirculated standard
• Maximum mintage of 37,500 coins
• Australian legal tender