Australian coins refers to the coins which are or were in use as Australian currency. During the early days of the colony Australia used foreign currency, until 1910 when Australian coins were introduced. Australia used £sd of pounds, shillings and pence until 1966 when it adopted decimal system with the Australian dollar.
First coins
When Australia 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 fixed the value of the Spanish Dollar to equal five shillings.
The settlers did have some George III two pence coins which were referred to as the "Cartwheel penny". These were the first English coins which were 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 bought Spanish dollar coins with 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 the Holey Dollar (valued at 5 shillings), with the piece in the middle called the Dump (valued at around 15 pence). Both were declared legal currency on September 30, 1813. English currency became the official currency of Australian colonies after 1825, with almost £100,000 of English coins imported during 1824-5. The Holey Dollar was no longer legal tender after 1829.
Unofficial gold coins were used during the gold rush during the 1850s. Traders tokens were also used with the shortage in 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 in 1870 minting gold coins of British design.
Australian £sd
In 1898 the British government allowed New South Wales and Victoria to mint silver and bronze coins at the mints in Melbourne and Sydney. British coins continued in use after Federation until 1910, when Australian silver coins were introduced. These included florins, shillings, sixpence and threepence. They had a portrait of King Edward on one side. Australian Pennies and half-pennies were introduced into circulation the following year. In 1931 gold sovereigns were stopped being minted in Australia. A crown or five-shilling coin was minted in 1937 and 1938.
Decimal currency
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 and are produced by the Royal Australian Mint. This included the 50 cent, 20 cent, 10 cent and 5 cent piece, referred to as 'silver' but actually 75% copper and 25% nickel, as well as the 'bronze' 2 cent and 1 cent piece. The 50 cent piece was originally made circular in 1966, but because the silver in the coin was worth more than 50 cents, it was changed to a 12 sided shape for 1967 and all following years.
A 'gold' two dollar and one dollar coin were introduced in the late 1980s. The $1 coin was introduced in 1984, which would replace the $1 banknote. The $2 coin to replace the $2 note 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 of 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) | Sugar Glider | |||
| 2 cents (no longer used) | Frill-necked Lizard | |||
| 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 |
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5c -
10c
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20c
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Queen Elizabeth II on 1966 coins
Commemorative coins
Many special coins have been produced with an event replacing the usual design on one 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 which have new designs; the $2, 10c and 5c are rarely changed. The commemorative coins include:
- 1982. 50c "XII Commonwealth games brisbane"
- 1988. 50c "Australia 1788-1988"
- 1993. $1 "Landcare Australia"
- 1995. 50c "'Weary' Dunlop"
- 1997. $1 "Sir Charles Kingsford Smith"
- 1999. $1 "International year of older persons"
- 2000. 50c "Royal Visit 2000"; 50c "Millenium Year"
- 2001. 50c, 20c "Centenary of Federation" with separate coins for each state as well as Australia; $1 "International Year of Volunteers"
- 2002. 50c windmill design, $1 "Year of the Outback"
- 2003. 50c "Australia's volunteers", $1 "Centenary of Women's suffrage"
- 2004. 50c with wombat, koala and bird.
- 2005. 50c "1939-1945 rememberance", "2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games".