Royal Australian Mint makes the coins used in Australia. The mint also produces coins for other countries, as well as medals, medallions, tokens, and seals for national and international private clients. The Australian government owns the mint, which is an agency of the Department of the Treasury. It is located in Canberra, Australia.
When Australia was a British colony, its citizens used a variety of currency, including British pounds sterling. However, Australia adopted its own coinage in 1910. In 1966, the Royal Australian Mint adopted decimal currency, moving from the pound, shilling, and pence to dollars and cents. The mint does not produce banknotes. Those are made at Note Printing Australia in Melbourne. The Royal Australian Mint was the first mint in the world to achieve accreditation by International Quality Standards ISO 9001. ISO 9001 is a family of standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization to indicate high-quality products and services.
Before the large Canberra facility opened in 1965, Britain’s Royal Mint operated branches in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth in Australia. The Sydney and Melbourne mints eventually were closed, and the Perth branch became an agency of the state government of Western Australia. The Royal Australian Mint has no connection with the Royal Mint in London.
The Royal Australian Mint has produced some unusual coins. In 1969, it minted a 12-sided 50-cent piece, which remains in circulation today. In 2012, it produced Australia’s first circulating colored coin, a 2-dollar piece that features a red poppy at its center to mark Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day is a national memorial day celebrated on November 11 each year in Australia to remember Australians killed as a result of war. Today, the mint is open to the public, and visitors can produce their own coins on visitor presses.
