A brief history of modern Australian coins - Decimalisation and later.....

 

A Brief History of Modern Australian Coins

                                                                    

Australia became a federation in 1901, coinciding with the ascension of King Edward VII to the throne of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India. Following Federation, authority over "currency, coinage, and legal tender" passed to the new Commonwealth Government. Despite this, Australia continued to use British currency as the official monetary system, and currencies from other countries were also in use until much later.

In 1910, almost a decade after Federation (and coincidentally the year King Edward VII died), Australia introduced its own currency system. The first coins minted at Australian mints were pounds, shillings, and pence.

• 1 Pound = 20 Shillings
• 1 Pound = 240 Pence
• 1 Shilling = 12 Pence

However, transitioning to a decimal currency system was a daunting task. People were skeptical, and many formalities needed to be addressed. In 1959, the Decimal Currency Committee was established to study the merits and demerits of decimalisation. Based on the committee's recommendations, the Australian government introduced the Currency Act 1963. It was in this year that Australian mints stopped minting pence and shillings.

The committee nominated February 14, 1966, as Changeover Day (or C-Day). C-Day was followed by a two-year transition period during which both currencies were legal tender. To prepare for decimalisation, the Australian Government launched an exhaustive educational and awareness program for the public. This program included videos, newsprint cartoon strips, and numerous appearances by ministers on radio and television to explain the new system and its benefits.

                                    

Click on the link below to view some interesting ads which featured on Australian television :

The Dollar bill - decimal currency jingle:

https://www.google.com/search?q=decimal+bill+currency+jingle&oq=decimal+bill+currency+jingle

Decimal Currency-1966: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6JawKH2yaQ

Finally, on February 14, 1966, Australia adopted the decimal system, and the pound was replaced. The new currency was initially called the "Royal," but this name did not go down well with the public, and it was soon changed to the "Dollar." Australia was one of the last few nations to adopt the decimal system for their currency.

Interestingly, there are still two countries in the world that follow a non-decimal currency system: Mauritania and Madagascar.

With the decimalisation of Australian currency:

• 1 Dollar = 100 Cents

The first coins minted under decimalisation by the Australian mint were 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, followed by 1 dollar and 2 dollar coins in 1984 and 1988, respectively.

But by 1992 , the mint stopped producing 1 and 2 cent coins in 1990 and cash transactions were rounded off to the nearest 5 cents. This decision to cease minting 1 and 2 cent coins was taken primarily due to the rising costs of production, which exceeded their face value.

Additionally, due to inflation, the purchasing power of these coins had greatly reduced, rendering them largely obsolete in everyday transactions.

After Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022, the full suite of coins in circulation got changed.

After 60 years, on 16th May, 2024 , effigy of the new monarch King Charles III , appeared on the obverse of all Australian coins.

As per tradition, King Charles' effigy faced to the left, opposite to Queen Elizabeth's right faced eggifies through the years.

Mr Leigh Gordon, Head Chief of the Royal Australian Mint, Canberra gifted the first proof set of six Uncirculated Year set to King Charles III.

Australia realesed the first coin of 2024 celebrating space exploration and King Charles' effigy.

And that's the latest on Aussie coins mate!

Share your coin stories . You may also share your coins.😉😉

Keep your change jingling and keep coming back for more on my fav hobby - Numismatics

Largest Coin in my collection

 

 AUSTRALIA - 50 CENT

As I sifted through my collection, first task was to categorise them in any particular order.

The most obvious choice was to sort them according to their country. As easy as that may sound, this task too had it’s challenges.

Quite a few antique looking coins had inscription in languages which I nor my friends could decipher.

However, I finally managed to organise a substantial portion of the collection  according to their country of origin.

Presently, the largest coins in my collection are the Australian 50 cents coins.

They are interesting in many way – not only are they the largest but they are the only 12 sided coins in my collection i.e. regular dodecagonal coins (although there are other countries also which have issued dodecagonal coins, for example Tasmania).

(A regular Dodecagon is a 12 sided polygon with all sides equal).

As expected , the obverse of Australian coins consistently features the  image of Queen Elizabeth facing to the right (There are 5 different versions of the Queen's image since 1966).

The reverse  features the Australian coat of arms. 

However, the design on the reverse has seen numerous changes especially with the issuance of commemorative coins.

Interestingly it is mostly the 50 cent coins in which the design on the reverse has  been changed to mark certain landmark events.

I too am a proud owner of  four 50 cent coins of which three are commemorative coins.

50 cent commemorative coins in my collection

This coin was minted in 1977 to celebrate the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II.

Wattle blossom design in the centre symbolises the spirit of resilience of the Australian people and is surrounded by 25 overlapping crowns.

This coin was minted in 1982 by the Royal Australian mint to commemorate the 12th Commonwealth games in Brisbane

This coin was minted by the Royal Australian mint in 2000 to celebrate the birth of the new millennium.

Originally, the 50 cent coin was circular in shape(13.28grams & 31.65 millimetre)  and was  made of  alloy with 80% Silver and 20% Copper. 

But soon the price of Silver increased and it was no more feasible to use the same alloy for the 50 cent coins. Their shape and size was also similar to the 20 cent coins which caused confusion.

Keeping both the factors in mind, minting of 50 cent coins was stopped. In fact, for 2 years, (1967 & 1968) 50 cent coins were not minted.

 Then in 1969, dodecagonal 50 cent coins were introduced. Now, not only were their shape different from the 20 cent coins but they were  heavier and costed less than the earlier 50 cent coins as they were made now made of an alloy with 75% copper and 25% Nickel.

Present day 50 cent coin weighs 15.55gms and has a diameter of 31.65mm (across flats).

𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘𐩘

My Mother's Coin Collection : An Enduring Legacy

 My Mother's Coin Collection : An Enduring Legacy

My mother has a substantial coin collection and often I would add some coins which I would come across. Similarly, other family members also contributed from time to time.

Although , the bulk of the collection is purely through her efforts. 

                                                                        

After marriage, I started my own collection but it is mostly newer coins , especially a series of Rs 10 and Rs 5 coins depicting the various events that happened in the country like the election of different PMs, Asian games, birth and death anniversaries of various famous personalities, etc.

Recently, my mother, graciously handed over her  remarkable  coin collection to me, for which my gratitude knows no bounds.

     

With great enthusiasm, I embarked on the captivating journey of organizing and classifying the coins in the collection, immersing myself in the minute details of each interesting piece.

                                            

                                           

Being a Mathematics teacher, the first thing I noticed was that there were various coins which had different number of sides.

A bit of investigation revealed that although most of the coins were circular, there were coins of various number of sides & my collection had coins with 4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 sides.

My mothers collection does not have it, but there are coins with three sides also.

You can see more about the coins with different sides in the following video.

https://youtube.com/shorts/aT1cjwUU_YU?si=-3HbAOktfWO5iu5-

As I immersed myself into this family heirloom, I had an epiphany about it's true value.  Beyond monetary worth, it served as a gateway to a bygone era, offering a glimpse into the rich tapestry of time. As I held each piece in my hand, I felt that I was looking in the past with many stories waiting to be discovered.