Coins of Australia facts for kids
Australian coins are the money that Australia uses or has used in the past. For a long time, Australia used coins from other countries, including Britain. But in 1910, Australia started making its own coins.
Australia first used a system called pounds, shillings, and pence. This changed in 1966. Australia then switched to the decimal system, where the Australian dollar is divided into 100 cents. Most old Australian coins are still legal to use, even if they are not common anymore.
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First Australian Coins
When the first Australian colony, New South Wales, was founded in 1788, it didn't have its own money. People had to use coins from other countries. Sometimes, things like wheat were even used as money because there weren't enough coins. People also used promises to pay or traded goods directly.
In 1791, Governor Phillip of New South Wales said that a Spanish dollar was worth five shillings. Spanish dollars were sometimes cut into smaller pieces. These pieces were used as smaller amounts of money.
In 1800, Governor Philip Gidley King made a rule about which coins were legal to use and how much they were worth. Many different types of coins from various countries were accepted. For example, a Spanish dollar was worth 5 shillings.
The settlers also had some British one-penny coins. These were called "Cartwheel pennies." They were the first British coins officially sent to Australia. So, you could say they were Australia's first official coins. They had King George III on one side and Britannia on the other.
In 1812, Governor Lachlan Macquarie bought 40,000 Spanish dollar coins. He was worried these coins would leave the colony quickly. To keep them in Australia, he had holes cut in the middle of them. These became known as Holey dollars. They were worth five shillings. The small piece cut from the middle was called the Dump. It was worth about 15 pence. Both the Holey dollar and the Dump became legal money in 1814.
After 1825, British money became the official currency in Australia. The Holey dollar was no longer legal to use after 1829. One very famous Holey Dollar is the "Hannibal Head." It has a picture of King Joseph I of Spain. This unique coin sold for $500,000 in 2018!
Gold Coins and Sovereigns
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During the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, people found a lot of gold. Because there were so many new people, there weren't enough coins. So, unofficial gold coins were sometimes used. Traders also used their own special tokens as money.
Australia's first official mint, where coins are made, opened in Sydney in 1855. This mint made gold coins with a special Australian design from 1855 to 1870. These coins had "Sydney Mint, Australia, One Sovereign" or "Half Sovereign" on one side. They had Queen Victoria on the other. After 1870, the Sydney Mint started making gold coins with the same design as British coins. One gold sovereign was worth £1.
The Australian Pound
When Australia became a federation in 1901, the government gained the power to make coins. British coins were still used until 1910. That's when Australia introduced its own silver coins. These included florins, shillings, sixpences, and threepences. They had a picture of King Edward VII. Australian pennies and half-pennies came out the next year. In 1931, Australia stopped making gold sovereigns. A special coin called a crown, worth five shillings, was made in 1937 and 1938.
The Australian Dollar
The Australian dollar replaced the Australian pound on February 14, 1966. This was part of Australia's switch to the decimal system. At first, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cent coins were made. The $1 coin was first made in 1984. The $2 coin followed in 1988. The one- and two-cent coins were stopped in 1990. They were taken out of circulation in February 1992.
See also
- List of people who have appeared on Australian currency
- Banknotes of the Australian dollar
- Banknotes of the Australian pound
