In 1800, just eighteen years after settlement, that Govenor King standardised the value of the many foreign coins in circulation. THis was done by a ‘Proclamation’, and so these became ther first ‘Australian’ coins, even though they came from such places as Britian, Portugal, India, Spain, Mexico, and Holland. This act brought some economic stability to the colony.
In 1813, the first truely Australian coin was made by punching the centre from a Spanish dollar. The outer ring is the famous ‘Holey Dollar’ and the centre piece is the ‘Dump’. They had new values of five shillings and fifteen pence respectively. These remained the life blood of the colony until 1825 when the English Parliment passed the Sterling Silver Money Act which ended the dollar standard.
From then on, English coins were circulated.
The Federation of the Colonies in 1901 was followed by the establishment of the Coinage Act of 1909. Actual ‘Commonwealth of Australia’, the coins were struck from 1910 to 1964 inclusively. These are Australia’s pre-decimal coinage.
The obverse of each coin displays the bare (uncrowned) head of King George VI facing to the left.
The reverse of each coin includes:
The Penny: A strong Kangaroo leaping to the left
The Half Penny: Similar to the Penny, a kangaroo leaping right
The Florin: A sceptre and sword crossing below the Crown of St Edward and above the Federation Star with the stars of the Southern Cross around
The Shilling: A merino ram’s head facing three-quarters left
The Sixpence: The Ensigns Armorial of the Commonwealth of Australia, as authorised by Royal Warrant 7th May 1908
Threepence: Three ears of wheat held by a curved ribbon
- This is a second-hand set, there is clear cosmetic damage (discolouration, age spots, bumped corners/edges) to the card housing the coins, however the coins themselves are in good condition
- There are 6 coins in the set, and are selected from dates 1951 and 1952
- The card inclues imagry of a ‘Holey Dollar’ and a ‘Dump’