The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 ushered in English coins to Australia along with selected coins from India, Spain Portugal and The Netherlands. The first characteristic Australian coins were the Holey Dollars and Dumps of 1813 produced from cutting the centers of Spanish Dollars. These are presently considered exceptionally rare coins of Australia. With the gold rush of 1850s, many gold Australian coins and tokens were unofficially issued and used due to the shortage of currency caused by the large increase in population.
In 1855 Australias first official mint was founded in Sydney. The earliest coins struck here had a unique design with "Sydney Mint, Australia, One Sovereign" on one side and Queen Victoria on the other, or "Sydney Mint, Australia, Half Sovereign". British coins continued to be used until 1910 even after the Federation gave Commonwealth constitutional power to issue coins until the introduction of Australian silver coins. They included florins, shillings, sixpence, and threepence which had the portrait of King Edward VII. In the following year Australian pennies were introduced. Production of Australian copper coins commenced in 1919 at Melbourne and Sydney Mints. Minting of gold sovereigns stopped in 1931 but other Australian Predecimal coins were issued until 1964.
Australian Decimal coins came into circulation when the Australian dollar replaced the Australian pound in 1966. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cent coins were issued by the Royal Australian Mint situated at Canberra. Mintage World brings to its viewers a glimpse of rare Australian coins which greatly benefit anyone who wishes to start Australian coin collection. Happy browsing!
