Information on Australian Coins
Australian coins belong to two entirely different periods. The current system is decimal and based on the Australian dollar. Prior to 1966, Australia's money consisted of pounds, shillings and pence. Early issues were minted by individual colonies and even by private concerns. Coins are gold, silver, or base metal. Many pieces are highly valued by collectors for their unusual qualities or historical value.
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Current Coins
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The Australian dollar is broken down into 100 cents. There are 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-cent pieces. In 1984, a $1 coin replaced the paper dollar, and a $2 coin followed in 1988. Production of 1- and 2-cent pieces ceased in 1990.
Coins are either gold or silver in appearance. Smaller denominations are mostly copper, with some nickel or zinc. The $1 and $2 coins contain additional aluminum. All Australian coins bear a bust of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse, or heads side, and an Australian animal and natural feature on the reverse.
Pre-Decimal Coinage
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Before 1966, Australia's monetary system was based on the traditional British system. One pound consisted of 20 shillings, with each shilling worth 12 pence. There were various other coins between the penny (one pence) and the pound. Higher denominations contained actual gold or silver, while smaller pieces were base metal, such as copper. Since Australia was a collection of separate British colonies until 1901, no national Australian coinage was issued until after political independence.
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First Coins
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Australia's first coins were the curious Holey Dollar and Colonial Dump. Both began life as 18th century or early 19th century silver dollars minted in the Spanish empire. In 1813, a severe currency crisis caused the governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, to order the insides of the Spanish dollars punched out and re-stamped as 5-shilling coins. The inside of the coin, the dump, was labeled 15 pence. The coins contain both their original Spanish markings and the Australian information.
Gold Rush
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Another severe economic crisis threatened during Australia's first gold rush. Prospectors were taking all the new-found gold out of the country. The Bullion Act of 1852 permitted gold to be assayed and turned into coin. Assayed gold is gold that has been tested for purity and measured.
The new Adelaide pounds were issued in two series of mintings. The first, without royal assent, produced a coin that was actually heavier than the English gold sovereign, or pound coin. The piece also was made in a cracked die, a procedure that left an unsual mark on the coin.
Pre-Decimal Commonwealth Coins
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Later colonial coins conformed to British standards. In 1910, nine years after independence, Australia finally received its own coinage. The government approved both silver and bronze pieces, but the new nation's three mints did not yet possess the necessary equipment. Threepence, sixpence, 1 shilling, and 2 shilling silver coins were struck in London in 1910. Other denominations came later.
Unlike the coins of most other nations, Australia's pre-decimal pieces bear the date and other important information on the reverse, rather than the obverse. Coins feature obverse images of British sovereigns from Edward VI through Elizabeth II.
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References
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