Coins of the Australian dollar
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Coins of the Australian dollar was introduced on 14 February 1966. It was equivalent in value to 10 shillings in the former currency (half of a pound).
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[edit] Regular coinage
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 2½-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to avoid confusion among the round coins and because of its excessive value, it was only produced for one year then withdrawn from circulation.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, but the 12 sided issue was minted as a specimen piece in 1966-67 to test the design. 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 15.55 g and a diameter of 31.51 mm, and the round, silver version has a mass of 13.28 g and diameter of 31.51 mm. An estimate of the value of the silver in the circular coin can be found if the coin is reckoned as being worth XAG 0.3416. 94.13 Australian 1966 round 50c coins make up a fine kilogram of silver. In July 2006 prices this is about AUD 4.92 (approx. 10 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 two-dollar coin is half the size of the one-dollar coin, which is unusual and often causes confusion for foreign tourists.
The one- and two-cent coins were discontinued in 1991 and withdrawn from circulation.
| Australian coins [1] | |||||||||
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| Image | Value | Technical parameters | Description | Date of first minting | |||||
| Diameter | Thickness | Weight | Composition | Edge | Obverse | Reverse | |||
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1 cent (no longer used) | 17.53 mm | 2.59 g | 97% copper 2.5% zinc 0.5% tin |
Queen Elizabeth II | Feathertail Glider | 1966 | ||
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2 cents (no longer used) | 21.59 mm | 5.18 g | Frill-necked Lizard | |||||
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5 cents | 19.41 mm | 1.3 mm | 2.83 g | Cupronickel 75% copper 25% nickel |
Milled | Queen Elizabeth II | Echidna | 1966 |
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10 cents | 23.60 mm | 2 mm | 5.65 g | Superb Lyrebird | ||||
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20 cents | 28.52 mm | 2.5 mm | 11.30 g | Platypus | ||||
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50 cents Dodecagon |
31.51 mm (shortest) | 3 mm | 15.55 g | Plain | Coat of arms | 1969 | ||
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$1 | 25.00 mm | 3 mm | 9.00 g | 92% copper 6% aluminium 2% nickel |
Interrupted milled | Queen Elizabeth II | Five kangaroos | 1984 |
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$2 | 20.50 mm | 3.2 mm | 6.60 g | Aboriginal elder | 1988 | |||
| These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table. | |||||||||
 Size comparison, Australian coins in rank of denomination |
 Queen Elizabeth II on 1966 coins |
[edit] 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:
- 1970 50c Captain Cook
- 1977 50c Silver Jubilee
- 1981 50c Charles & Diana Royal Wedding
- 1982 50c XII 1982 Commonwealth Games Brisbane
- 1986 $1 International Year of Peace
- 1988 50c, $1 First Fleet Bicentenary 1788-1988
- 1988 $1, Aboriginal Kangaroo 1788-1988
- 1991 50c 25th Anniv. Decimal Currency (Ram's Head)
- 1992 $1 Barcelona Olympics
- 1993 $1 Landcare Australia
- 1994 50c Year of the Family
- 1994 $1 Dollar Decade 1984-1994
- 1995 20c 50 years of the United Nations
- 1995 50c 'Weary' Dunlop
- 1995 $1 Waltzing Matilda
- 1996 $1 Henry Parkes
- 1997 $1 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
- 1998 50c Commemorating the discovery of Bass Strait in 1798 by Matthew Flinders who named the Strait after his colleague George Bass
- 1998 $1 Howard Florey Only Proof and mint packs
- 1999 $1 International Year of Older Persons
- 2000 50c Royal Visit
- 2000 50c Millennium Year
- 2000 20c, Donald Bradman's death
- 2001 20c, 50c, $1 Centenary of Federation with additional 20c and 50c coins for each of the nine states and territories
- 2001 $1 International Year of Volunteers
- 2002 50c, $1 Year of the Outback
- 2003 20c 50c, $1 Australia's Volunteers
- 2003 $1 Centenary of Women's Suffrage
- 2004 50c Student Design - Animals, with Wombat, Koala and Cockatoo.
- 2005 20c, 50c, $1 60th Anniv., End of World War II,
- 2005 50c Student Design - Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
- 2006 $1 The Fifty Year Anniversary of T.V
- 2007 $1 70th Anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
- 2007 $1 APEC Australia 2007
 1970 50 cent coin commemorating Captain Cook |
 1998 50 cent coin commemorating the discovery of Bass Strait in 1798 by Matthew Flinders, who named the Strait after his colleague George Bass. Bass is on the left and Flinders is on the right. |
 2001 50 cent coin commemorating the Centenary of the Federation of Australia with the arms of the state of New South Wales |
 1982 coin commemorating the 1982 Commonwealth Games |
 2005 coin commemorating the 2006 Commonwealth Games |
One Dollar Coins
 2002 coin commemorating the year of the outback |
 2003 coin commemorating the Centenary of Womens Suffrage |
 2003 coin commemorating Australia's Volunteers |
[edit] Collectible coins
The Royal Australian Mint regularly releases collectible coins, one of the most famous of which is the gold two hundred dollar coin. Australian collectible coins are all legal tender[1] and can be used directly as currency or converted to "normal" coinage at a bank.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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- (2003) in Chester L. Krause, Cliffor Mischler, Colin R. Bruce II, et al. (editors): 2004 Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1901-present, 31st ed., Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87349-593-4.
[edit] External links
- Cruzi's Coins
- Guide to predecimal coins
- History of Australian coins
- Australia's first coins - State Library of NSW
- Australian Decimal Currency
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| Topics | Australian dollar · Reserve Bank of Australia · Note Printing Australia |
| Mints | Royal Australian Mint · Melbourne Mint · Perth Mint · Sydney Mint |
| Coins | 1¢ · 2¢ · 5¢ · 10¢ · 20¢ · 50¢ round · 50¢ · $1 · $2 · Pre-£ coins · Coins of £ · Coins of $ |
| Banknotes | $1 · $2 · $5 · $10 · $20 · $50 · $100 |
| Historic | Pound sterling · Australian pound · ½d · 1d · 3d · 6d · 1/- · 2/- · 5/- · 10/- · £1 · £5 · £10 · £20 · £50 · £100 · £1000 |
