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."

Polymer banknotes

In 1988, the Reserve Bank of Australia issued a plastic, specifically polypropylene polymer banknote to commemorate the country's bicentenary of European settlement. These notes contained a transparent 'window' with an optically variable image of Captain James Cook as a security feature. Australian currency was the first in the world to use such features in currency. Despite initial difficulties the Reserve Bank saw potential in the issue of plastic banknotes and commenced preparations for an entirely new series made from polymer.

Related Topics:
Plastic - Polypropylene - Polymer banknote - Captain James Cook - Polymer

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Today all Australian notes are made of polymer.

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All notes are the same width, but each note is longer than the previous lower-value note.

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• $5 ? 65mm × 130mm
• $10 ? 65mm × 137mm
• $20 ? 65mm × 144mm
• $50 ? 65mm × 151mm
• $100 ? 65mm × 158mm