Penny (Australian coin)
The Australian penny was a coin of the Australian pound used in the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation in 1966. It was worth one twelfth of an Australian shilling and 1/240 of an Australian pound. The coin was equivalent in its dimensions, composition and value to the British penny, as the two currencies were fixed at par.
The coin was first introduced in 1911, and stopped being minted in 1964, with the introduction of decimalisation. When decimalisation happened on 14 February 1966, the coin value was equal to 0.8333¢.
The obverse of the coin featured the reigning Australian monarch. Three were featured: George V, George VI and Elizabeth II. All of the pennies featuring George VI and Elizabeth II had a kangaroo on the reverse. The same image was on the Australian half-penny and has since been included on the dollar coin and the bullion silver kangaroo.
During the George VI era, coins minted at Melbourne had a dot at the end of the word "PENNY", while coins from Perth did not have a dot. This continued through the end of the coin's lifetime.
Types
| Image | Years | Technical parameters | Description / Legend / Designer | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obverse | Reverse | From | To | Diameter | Thickness | Mass | Composition | Edge | Obverse | Reverse |
.jpg) |  | 1911 | 1936 | 30.8 mm | 9.45 g | Bronze: Cu 97.5%, Zn 2.0%, Sn 0.5% | Plain | George V GEORGIVS V D.G.BRITT: OMN: REX F.D.IND:IMP: by Bertram Mackennal | ONE PENNY COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA by W.H.J. Blakemore | |
 |  | 1938 | 1948 | George VI GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX: F:D:IND:IMP. by Thomas Hugh Paget | Kangaroo / Commonwealth Star AUSTRALIA PENNY by George Kruger Gray | |||||
 | 1949 | 1952 | George VI GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX FIDEI DEF. by Thomas Hugh Paget | |||||||
 | 1953 | 1955 | Elizabeth II + ELIZABETH.II.DEI.GRATIA.REGINA by Mary Gillick | |||||||
 | 1959 | 1964 | Elizabeth II + ELIZABETH.II.DEI.GRATIA.REGINA.F:D: by Mary Gillick | |||||||
| These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table. | ||||||||||
Numismatics
The 1930 penny is one of the rarest Australian coins, due to a very small number being minted.[1] It is highly sought after by coin collectors, and a 1930 penny in very fine condition can be worth A$45,000 or more.[2]
Other "hard to get" years include 1925 and 1946.
Minting figures
The numbers below include specimens and proof issues, where mintage for them is known. Counting these, a total of 814,788,088 (815 million) coins of the denomination were minted during its existence.[3]
- 1911: 3,768,000
- 1912: 3,600,000
- 1913: 2,520,000
- 1914: 720,000
- 1915: 2,280,000
- 1916: 3,324,000
- 1917: 6,240,000
- 1918: 1,200,000
- 1919: 5,810,160
- 1920: 9,041,600
- 1921: 7,438,320
- 1922: 12,697,440
- 1923: 5,654,400
- 1924: 4,665,840
- 1925: 1,639,200
- 1926: 1,860,000
- 1927: 4,922,450
- 1928: 3,038,400
- 1929: 2,599,200
- 1930: unknown (usually estimated around 1200)
- 1931: 494,400
- 1932: 2,116,800
- 1933: 5,817,600
- 1934: 5,808,100
- 1935: 3,724,900
- 1936: 9,890,400
- 1937: 12 (unreleased pattern)
- 1938: 5,552,650
- 1939: 6,240,000
- 1940: 5,188,800
- 1941: 14,382,800
- 1942: 21,244,800
- 1943: 53,198,400
- 1944: 29,942,000
- 1945: 15,172,806
- 1946: 240,000
- 1947: 11,174,400
- 1948: 28,150,000
- 1949: 27,064,800
- 1950: 57,846,800
- 1951: 52,128,000
- 1952: 57,922,000
- 1953: 13,138,816
- 1955: 17,447,101
- 1956: 25,994,917
- 1957: 15,979,112
- 1958: 24,443,334
- 1959: 16,048,136
- 1960: 20,516,230
- 1961: 30,608,240
- 1962: 34,852,664
- 1963: 10,259,660
- 1964: 109,180,401
References
- Bruce, Colin R.; Thomas Michael (2005). 2006 Standard Catalog of World Coins (1901-present). KP Books. p. 67. ISBN 0-87349-987-5.
External links
| Preceded by British one penny coin (pre-decimal) |
Penny 1911–1964 |
Succeeded by Denomination Abolished |