Australian dollar is the monetary unit of the nation of Australia. The Australian dollar is divided into 100 cents. A coin represents the 1 dollar denomination. Notes are printed in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollars. The Reserve Bank of Australia issues Australia’s bank notes. The Royal Australian Mint produces the nation’s coins.
A number of different currencies were used in the Australian colonies after the first European settlers arrived in 1788. Colonists variously conducted local trade with British pounds, Spanish dollars, and notes issued by private banks and individuals. After the six Australian colonies became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, the new government decided to create its own currency. Laws passed in 1910 gave the Australian treasury the right to issue notes. The treasury printed over private banks’ notes before issuing the Commonwealth’s first distinctive notes in 1913. These notes were based on the British pound. Each pound was divisible into 20 shillings. A shilling, in turn, was divisible into 12 pence.
In 1966, Australia replaced the pound with the dollar as its national currency. The dollar made monetary calculations easier because it could be divided into 100 equal parts. In 1988, Australia began replacing its cotton-based paper currency with polymer bank notes. Polymer bank notes are made of thin, plastic film. They are harder to counterfeit and last longer than paper notes. Australia replaced its last paper notes in 1996, becoming the first country to have a complete series of polymer notes.
