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Coins of Australia

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Australian coins refers to the coins which are or were in use as Australian currency. During the early days of the colonies that formed Australia, foreign currency was used, but in 1910, a decade after federation, Australian coins were introduced. Australia used pounds, shillings and pence until 1966, when it adopted the decimal system with the Australian dollar divided into 100 cents.

First coins

For many years after the first Australian colony, New South Wales, was founded in 1788, it did not have its own currency and had to rely on the coins of other countries. During the early days of the colony, rum was sometimes used as a currency because of the shortage of coins.

Spanish dollars were sometimes cut into 'pieces of eight', quarters, and then into 2/3 and 1/3 segments, with the 2/3 segments (1/6 of original coin) being 'shillings' and the 1/3 segments (1/12 of original coin) 'sixpences'. [1] In 1791 Governor Phillip of New South Wales fixed the value of the Spanish Dollar to equal five shillings.

The settlers did have some George III one-penny coins, which were referred to as "Cartwheel pennies". These were the first British coins to be officially exported to the Australian colonies, and so can be considered Australia's first official coins. They were dated 1797 and 1799, with Britannia on one side and King George III on the other.

In 1812, Governor Lachlan Macquarie of New South Wales bought Spanish dollar coins, following the arrival of the ship Samarang at Port Jackson with 40,000 Spanish Dollars, paying four shillings and nine pence for each dollar. He was worried that the coins would quickly be exported out of the colony and had holes cut in the middle of them to try to keep them in Australia. These were known as Holey Dollars (valued at five shillings), with the piece from the middle being called the Dump (valued at around 15 pence). Both were declared legal currency on September 30, 1813.

British currency became the official currency of the Australian colonies after 1825, with almost £100,000-worth of British coins being imported during 1824–25. The Holey Dollar was no longer legal tender after 1829.

Unofficial gold coins were used during the gold rush of the 1850s. Traders' tokens were also used because of the shortage of coins caused by the large increase in population. Attempts to make gold coins in Adelaide in 1852 failed because of the discovery of a die-crack. Australia's first official mint was in Sydney, founded in 1855. It produced gold coins with an original design between 1855 and 1870, with "Sydney Mint, Australia, One Sovereign" on one side and Queen Victoria on the other, before starting in 1870 to mint gold coins of British design.


Australian £sd

Australian shilling, penny and half penny

In 1898 the British government allowed two colonies, New South Wales and Victoria, to mint silver and bronze coins at their mints in Sydney and Melbourne respectively. British coins continued in use after Federation (in 1900), until 1910, when Australian silver coins were introduced. These included florins, shillings, sixpences and threepences. They had a portrait of King Edward VII on one side. Australian pennies and half-pennies were introduced into circulation the following year. In 1931 gold sovereigns stopped being minted in Australia. A crown or five-shilling coin was minted in 1937 and 1938.

Decimal currency

The unusual circular 1966 50 cent coin

On 14 February 1966 decimal coins were introduced. The old pound was equal to two dollars. All coins portray Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse, have designs by the Australian-born artist Stuart Devlin on the reverse, and are produced by the Royal Australian Mint. They now comprise 50-cent, 20-cent, ten-cent and five-cent coins - all still referred to as 'silver' though actually 75% copper and 25% nickel - and for many years there were also 'bronze' two-cent and one-cent coins.

The 50-cent coin originally had a circular shape, and contained 80% silver and 20% copper, so that the material of the coin was worth more than 50 cents. It was made to almost identical dimensional specifications as the British 2-1/2-shilling Half-Crown, and was probably also influenced by the US 1964 JFK 90% Silver Half-Dollar. However, to avoid confusion among the round coins and because of its excessive value, it was only produced for one year then withdrawn from circulation. There were no 50 cent coins minted for two years and then it was changed to a 12-sided shape for 1969 and all following years. It has since been issued in both standard and commemorative designs. The standard designs on both versions of the coin are the same: the obverse carries the effigy of the sovereign, and the reverse shows the Coat of Arms of Australia. The dodecagonal version has a mass of 15.55g and a diameter of 31.51mm, and the round, silver version has a mass of 13.28g and diameter of 31.51mm. An estimate of the value of the silver in the circular coin can be found if the coin is reckoned as being worth XAU 0.375. 75.3 Australian 1966 round 50c coins make up a fine kilo of silver. In Feb. 2006 prices this is about AUD 4.85 (approx. nine times the face value). Many Australians mistakenly believe that the 1966 round 50c piece is quite rare, when in fact Royal Australian Mint records indicate that some 36 million examples were struck, and 11 million were released into circulation. They are hardly ever seen in business today, and nearly all the Australian round 50-cent coins from 1966 that remain in existence are now only traded for their bullion value - very few are sold as collectors' items. They are often confused with the round 50-cent coin from New Zealand with the date 1967-2006, which has a maritime scene on the reverse.

'Gold' two-dollar and one-dollar coins were introduced in the late 1980s. The one-dollar coin was introduced in 1984, to replace the banknote of the same value. The two-dollar coin, also replacing a banknote, was introduced in 1988. These have content of 2% nickel, 6% aluminium and 92% copper. Thus all Australian coins in use currently are composed of more than half copper.

The one- and two-cent coins were discontinued in 1990–92 and withdrawn from circulation.

Australian coins [2]
Value Composition Design Mass Diameter
1 cent (no longer used) 97% copper, 2.5% zinc, .5% tin Feather-tailed Glider 2.59 grams 17.53 mm
2 cents (no longer used) 97% copper, 2.5% zinc, .5%tin Frill-necked Lizard 5.18 grams 21.59 mm
5 cents 75% copper, 25% nickel Echidna 2.83 g 19.41 mm
10 cents 75% copper, 25% nickel Lyrebird 5.65 g 23.60 mm
20 cents 75% copper, 25% nickel Platypus 11.30 g 28.52 mm
50 cents 75% copper, 25% nickel Australian coat of arms - Dodecagonal 15.55 g 31.51 mm
1 dollar 92% copper, 6% aluminium, 2% nickel (gold-coloured) Five kangaroos 9.00 g 25.00 mm
2 dollars 92% copper, 6% aluminium, 2% nickel (gold-coloured) Aboriginal elder 6.60 g 20.50 mm

Commemorative coins

Many special coins have been produced, with imagery representing an event replacing the usual design on the reverse side of the coin. For some years, all the coins are replaced with a different design for that year. In other cases, only a few coins have the new design, which are released as special commemorative coins, although many usually end up in circulation. Because of their larger size, it is usually the 50c, 20c and $1 that have new designs; the $2, 10c and 5c are rarely changed. The commemorative coins include:

See also

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