Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Australian currency was originally based on British pounds, shillings and pence. That changed in 1966, when the country converted to Australian dollars and cents, similar to the U.S. system ...
Value Technical parameters Description Date of Dated years of issue Obverse Reverse Diameter Mass Composition Obverse Reverse Edge First issue Withdrawal Half penny (½d) 25.5 mm 5.67 g Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin) Portrait of King George V. Designed by Sir E. B. Mackennal.
The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD; also abbreviated A$ or sometimes AU$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; [2] [3] and also referred to as the dollar or Aussie dollar) is the official currency and legal tender of Australia, including all of its external territories, and three independent sovereign Pacific Island states: Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu.
British currency became the official currency of the Australian colonies after 1825, with almost £100,000-worth of British coins being imported during 1824–25. The Holey dollar was no longer legal tender after 1829. The most notable Holey Dollar was the "Hannibal Head" a one of a kind coin that features the portrait of King Joseph I of Spain ...
The pound (sign: £, £A [1] for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. Like other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s or /–), each of 12 pence (denoted by the symbol d).
This allows banks to count the value of a collection of any combination of those coins. The original 50c coin was circular and contained 80% silver and 20% copper, and the metal in the coin quickly became worth more than 50c. It had almost identical dimensional specifications to the British half crown coin. However, to avoid confusion with the ...
When Australia was part of the fixed-exchange sterling area, the exchange rate of the Australian dollar was fixed to the pound sterling at a rate of A$1 = 8 U.K. shillings (A$2.50 = UK£1). In 1967, Australia effectively left the sterling area, when the pound sterling was devalued against the US dollar and the Australian dollar did not follow.
[1] [2] A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money in common use within a specific environment over time, especially for people in a nation state. [3] Under this definition, the British Pound sterling (£), euros (€), Japanese yen (¥), and U.S. dollars (US$) are examples of (government-issued) fiat currencies.