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However, after the Second World War, the rising price of silver meant that the silver content of Australian coins was close to meeting the face value of the coin itself and therefore Australia decided to change the silver content of its coins. [12] After 1946 until 1963, shillings were composed of 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% zinc and 5% nickel.
The Australian florin was a coin used in the Commonwealth of Australia before decimalisation in 1966. The florin was worth two shillings (24 pence , or one-tenth of a pound ). The denomination was first minted in 1910 to the same size and weight as the British florin .
A year later Australian pennies and half-pennies entered circulation. Unlike in New Zealand, there was no half-crown. In 1931 gold sovereigns stopped being minted in Australia. A crown or five-shilling coin was minted in 1937 and 1938. Coinage of the Australian pound was replaced by decimalised coins of the Australian dollar on 14 February 1966 ...
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.
British coins continued in use until 1910, when Australian silver coins were introduced. These included florins, shillings, sixpences and threepences. They had a portrait of King Edward VII on one side. Australian pennies and half-pennies were introduced into circulation the following year. In 1931 gold sovereigns stopped being minted in Australia.
In 1946, the fineness of Australian silver sixpences, shillings, and florins was reduced to .500, a quarter of a century after the same change had been made in Britain. In New Zealand and the United Kingdom, silver was soon abandoned completely in everyday coinage, but Australian .500 silver coins continued to be minted until after decimalisation.
Issued in 50% silver until a postwar rise in silver prices triggered a shift to cupronickel in 1947, the coin was minted with relative consistency until 1965, when it was discontinued following decimalisation and the adoption of the New Zealand dollar. Shillings remained legal tender as 10c coins until they were demonetised on 31 October 2006.
The Australian threepence (pron. "thrippence"), commonly referred to as the "threepenny bit", is a small silver coin used in the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation. It was minted from 1910 until 1964, excluding 1913, 1929–1933 inclusive, 1937, 1945 and 1946.