The Anniversary of Decimal Currency subscription series one dollar coin commemorates 30 years since decimalisation. The
reverse was designed by Horst Hahne and shows the first decimal coins
of differing denominations along with a map of Australia. The coins featured are one cent, five cent, ten cent and fifty
cents. There is also an Australian Penny which shows a kangaroo placed over the map of Australia. The
legend
reads "30TH ANNIVERSARY OF DECIMAL CURRENCY ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT" along with the initials of the designer Horst Hahne.
The obverse features the traditional HM Queen Elizabeth II portrait right-facing,
crowned with necklace and earrings. It has the
legend
"ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1996". It is presented in a black box with a black lining with gives prominence to the bright
silver coin. It comes with a letter of authenticity.
The 1996 Subscription series one dollar coin was issued to commemorate 30 years since the introduction of
decimal currency. Following Australian Federation in 1901 discussions to establish a national currency began immediately.
In 1910 the first Australian coins were struck and despite calls for a decimialised currency the coins followed the British
system with pounds, shillings and pence. The currency was awkward, with each pound being subdivided into 20 shillings each
of 12 pence. In the 1950s the economic importance of switching to a decimal currency became heavily argued. The key argument
was that the pound made financial transactions unnecessarily difficult, it was calculated that this difficulty caused the
loss of more than £11 million to the Australian economy every year. After much political debate the 14th of February 1966
was chosen as Changeover Day - when the new Australian decimal dollar took over.
Find out what dealers are paying with a subscription.
