2006 $1 50 Years of Australian Television Silver Proof Coin2006 marks the 50th anniversary of Television in Australia. On the evening of September 16, 1956, crowds gathered outside department stores and in homes across Australia to witness the momentous event when TCN 9 flickered into life with the famous words Welcome to television uttered by Bruce Gyngell. Television sets cost three times the monthly wage in those days and only about 2,000 homes in Australia's biggest city had one on opening night.