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A national Australian currency was created in 1910, as the Australian Pound, which in 1966 was decimalised as the Australian Dollar. From the early 19th century until 1971, the exchange rate of Australian currency was fixed to the British pound. [3]
The Deakin government's Coinage Act 1909 [3] distinguished between "British coin" and "Australian coin", giving both status as legal tender of equal value. The Act gave the Treasurer the power to issue silver, bronze and nickel coins, with the dimensions, size, denominations, weight and fineness to be determined by proclamation of the Governor-General.
As such, the British sterling currency was adopted in New South Wales with relative ease, and as this region of British influence expanded over the course of the nineteenth century to incorporate the rest of the Australian continent, New Zealand and a large number of Pacific islands, the British sterling currency followed.
The pound is the main unit of sterling, [4] [c] and the word pound is also used to refer to the British currency generally, [7] often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. [4] Sterling is the world's oldest currency in continuous use since its inception. [8]
Metrication in Australia effectively began in 1966 with the conversion to decimal currency under the auspices of the Decimal Currency Board. [1] The conversion of measurements—metrication—commenced subsequently in 1971, under the direction of the Metric Conversion Board and actively proceeded until the Board was disbanded in 1981.
Both were declared legal currency on 30 September 1813 and went into circulation in 1814. [3] 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 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.
A 1933 UK shilling 1956 Elizabeth II UK shilling showing English and Scottish reverses. The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or one-twentieth of a pound before being phased out during the 1960s ...