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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.
Currency quotations use the abbreviations for currencies that are prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in standard ISO 4217.The major currencies and their designation in the foreign exchange market are the US dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British pound (GBP), Australian dollar (AUD), Canadian dollar (CAD), and the Swiss franc (CHF).
For example, the purchasing power of the US dollar relative to that of the euro is the dollar price of a euro (dollars per euro) times the euro price of one unit of the market basket (euros/goods unit) divided by the dollar price of the market basket (dollars per goods unit), and hence is dimensionless. This is the exchange rate (expressed as ...
The notes of the Australian dollar were first issued by the Reserve Bank of Australia on 14 February 1966, when Australia changed to decimal currency and replaced the pound with the dollar. [1] This currency was a lot easier for calculating compared to the previous Australian pound worth 20 shillings or 240 pence.
The one-dollar coin was introduced in 1984, to replace the banknote of the same value. The two-dollar coin, also replacing a banknote, was introduced in 1988. They have content of 2% nickel, 6% aluminium and 92% copper. The two-dollar coin is smaller in diameter than the one-dollar coin, but the two-dollar is slightly thicker.
Spanish dollars were sometimes cut into "pieces of eight", quarters, and then into 2/3 and 1/3 segments, with the 2/3 segments (1/6 of original coin) being "shillings" and the 1/3 segments (1/12 of original coin) "sixpences" [1] In 1791 Governor Phillip of New South Wales fixed the value of the Spanish dollar to equal five shillings.
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.
The Australian twenty-dollar note was issued when the currency was changed from the Australian pound to the Australian dollar on 14 February 1966. [1] It replaced the £10 note which had similar orange colouration.