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 1965, 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 except for the 1965 penny it featured a Roman. The kangaroo 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
		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
Picture yet to be added	Picture yet to be added	1965							Elizabeth II + ELIZABETH.II.DEI.GRATIA.REGINA.F:D:

Numismatics

A silver reproduction of the rare Australian 1930 penny

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, 1946 and 1965.

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
• 1965: unknown, mostly retracted

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

• Coins from Australia / Coin Type: Penny - Online Coin Club
• One Penny | Blue Sheet
• Australia pennies