Sister Cities, Thessanoniki, medal, numismatics, 1985
Summary
Melbourne has a well-deserved reputation as a multicultural city, and this is reflected in the collection in many ways, including the numismatic gifts presented to council over the years from visitors from across the globe. Melbourne has relationships with six sister cities – Boston, Milan, Osaka, St Petersburg, Thessaloniki and Tianjin – relationships designed to foster cultural exchange and strengthen international ties.
In the late 1940s, more than 160,000 Greeks migrated to Australia in the wake of World War II and the subsequent civil war. This lead to Melbourne having one of the largest Greek populations in the world outside of Greece. In 1984, Melbourne City Council formalised this strong and mutually beneficial relationship, becoming a sister city to Thessaloniki. The following year, Thessaloniki celebrated its 2300-year history and issued a rectangular medal, measuring 95mm by 60mm, one of which was presented to Melbourne City Council.
This text is excerpted from Darren Burgess' essay 'City of Melbourne Numismatic Collection', available in full through the 'Explore' tab above.
