Australian dollar

The Australian dollar, AUD or A$, is the official currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. It is sometimes affectionately called the "Aussie battler"; during a low period (relative to the US dollar) around 2001 and 2002 the currency was sometimes locally called the "Pacific Peso."

Current banknotes and coins

Each Australian dollar is composed of 100 cents. The smallest coin in current circulation is equal to five cents, the one and two cent coins having been discontinued in 1990–92 and withdrawn from circulation. (Cash transactions are rounded down or up to the nearest multiple of five cents.)

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All Australian notes are made of polymer.

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The coins and notes that became effective throughout the 1980s and 1990s and are currently in use are as follows:

Related Topics:
1980s - 1990s

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• One Dollar coin (first issued 1984) ? a coin featuring five kangaroos and Elizabeth II ? gold coloured
  
• Two Dollar coin (first issued 1988) ? a coin featuring an Aboriginal elder and Elizabeth II ? gold coloured
  
• Five Dollar note (first issued in 1992 Elizabeth II (front); Parliament House (reverse) ? pink
  
• A commemorative note was released for general circulation in 2001, marking the Centenary of Federation featuring Sir Henry Parkes (front) and Catherine Helen Spence (reverse) ? purple.
• Ten Dollar note (issued 1993) ? Banjo Paterson (front); Dame Mary Gilmore (reverse) ? blue
  
• This note features all the text from Banjo Patterson's most famous poem "The Man From Snowy River" in microprint on the front, and the text of Mary Gilmore's patriotic poem No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest on the reverse.
  
• Twenty Dollar note (issued 1994) ? Mary Reibey (front); John Flynn (reverse) ? red
  
• Fifty Dollar note (issued 1995) ? David Unaipon (front); Edith Cowan (reverse) ? yellow
  
• One Hundred Dollar note (issued 1996) ? Dame Nellie Melba (front); Sir John Monash (reverse) ? green
  

The fractional coinage features the monarch on the obverse side, and Australian native animals on the reverse:

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• Five cent ? smallest "silver" coin featuring an echidna
• Ten cent ? a lyrebird
• Twenty cent ? the platypus
• Fifty cent ? the Australian coat of arms. This large coin is dodecagonal (twelve-sided) cupro-nickel, it replaced a round silver 50 cent coin which, soon after issue, became far more valuable for its silver content than as a unit of currency.

In recent years, the 20 cent, 50 cent and 1 dollar coins have been issued featuring a variety of commemorative and United Nations "year of" themes.

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There is also an Australian five dollar coin and many silver and gold bullion coins in higher denominations that, like the US Two dollar note, are not a normal method of payment but are still legal tender.

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All Australian notes are issued by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Australian coins are produced by the Royal Australian Mint.

Related Topics:
Reserve Bank of Australia - Royal Australian Mint

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