Australian pound
Encyclopedia
The pound was the currency of Australia
from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar
. It was subdivided into 20 shilling
s, each of 12 pence
.
King
issued a proclamation setting the value of a variety of foreign coins in New South Wales
. However, because of the shortage of any sort of money, the real currency during the first twenty-five years of settlement was rum
, leading to terms such as the "Rum Corps
" and the "Rum Rebellion
".
Australia's first coinage was issued in 1813 by the colony of New South Wales
by punching the middle out of Spanish dollars. This process created two parts: a small coin, which was called the dump in Australia, and a ring, which was called a Holey dollar
. One holey dollar was worth five shillings (a quarter of one pound Sterling), and one dump was worth one shilling and three pence (or one quarter of a Holey dollar). This was done in order to keep the coins in New South Wales, as they would be valueless elsewhere.
In 1825, an Imperial order-in-council was issued with the purpose of introducing Sterling coinage to all the British colonies. This was due to the introduction of the gold standard in the UK (1816), and a decline in the supply of Spanish dollars. Most of the dollars used had been minted in Lima
, Mexico City
, and Potosi
, which had become part of new Latin America
n republics, independent from Spain.
From 1817, when the first bank, the Bank of New South Wales
, was established, private banks issued paper money denominated in pounds. In 1852, the Government Assay Office in Adelaide
issued gold pound coins. These weighed slightly more than sovereigns
. From 1855, the Sydney
mint issued half sovereigns and sovereigns, with the Melbourne
mint beginning production in 1872. Many of the sovereigns minted in Australia were for use in India
as part of a plan that the gold sovereign should become the imperial coin. As it turned out, India was already too entrenched in the Rupee system, and the gold sovereigns obtained by the treasury in India never left the vaults.
Thus, in the lead-up to Federation, the currency used in the Australian colonies consisted of British silver and copper coins, Australian minted gold sovereigns (worth 1 pound) and half sovereigns, locally minted copper trade tokens (suppressed in 1881, some state earlier (Pitt 2000, pp. 10–11)) and private bank notes.
After Federation in 1901, the Australian government assumed the power to issue currency and began overprinting the private issues that were in circulation, in preparation for the issue of a domestic currency. In 1910 the federal government passed the "Australian Notes Act" which prohibited the circulation of State notes. Also passed in that year was the "Bank Notes Tax Act
" which imposed a tax of 10% per annum on "all bank notes issued or re-issued by any bank in the Commonwealth after the commencement of this Act, and not redeemed". Both these acts remain on the statute books and perpetuate the prohibition of private currencies in Australia.
Government of Prime Minister
Andrew Fisher
. The new national currency was called the Australian pound, consisting of 20 shilling
s, each consisting of 12 pence
. Monetary policy ensured that the Australian pound was fixed in value to the pound sterling. As such Australia was on the gold standard
so long as Britain was.
In 1914, the pound sterling was removed from the gold standard. When it was returned to the gold standard in 1925, the sudden increase in its value (imposed by the nominal gold price) unleashed crushing deflationary pressures. Both the initial 1914 inflation
and the subsequent 1926 deflation had far-reaching economic effects throughout the British Empire
, Australia and the world. In 1929, as an emergency measure during the Great Depression
, Australia left the gold standard, resulting in a devaluation relative to sterling. A variety of pegs to sterling applied until December 1931, when the government set a rate of 1 Australian pound = 16 shillings sterling (1 pound 5 shillings Australian = 1 pound sterling).
During World War II
, the Empire of Japan
produced currency notes, some denominated in the Australian pound, for use in Pacific countries intended for occupation. Since Australia was never occupied, the occupation currency was not used there, but it was used in the captured parts of the then-Australian territories of Papua
and New Guinea
.
In 1949, when the United Kingdom
devalued the pound sterling against the US dollar, Australian Prime Minister and Treasurer Ben Chifley
followed suit so the Australian pound would not become over-valued in sterling zone countries with which Australia did most of its external trade at the time. As one pound sterling went from US$4.03 to US$2.8, one Australian pound went from US$3.224 to US$2.24.
, was introduced after years of planning. 2 February 1963 had been initially planned as the date the new currency would be introduced but this date passed with no fanfare as no progress on developing the new currency had been made at that time. The exchange rate was 1 pound = 2 dollars. Thus, 10 shillings became 1 dollar and 1 shilling became 10 cents.
An exchange rate of $2.00:£1 was problematic for the pre-decimal penny since the shilling was divided into twelve pence. An exchange rate of $2.40:£1 would have allowed for accurate conversion down to the penny, however the Government thought it more important that the new currency unit be more valuable than the United States dollar
which it would not have been under a 2.4:1 ratio. Amounts less than a shilling were converted thus:
In 1910, .925 fineness sterling silver
coins in denominations of 3 and 6 pence, 1 and 2 shillings (florin
). Unlike in the United Kingdom, no half crown
s were issued. Bronze ½ and 1 penny
coins followed in 1911. Production of ½ sovereigns ceased in 1916, followed by that of sovereigns in 1931. In 1937 a five shilling piece was issued to commemorate the coronation
of King George VI
. This coin proved unpopular and was discontinued shortly after being reissued in 1938.
In 1946, the fineness of the silver coins was reduced to .500 but, unlike New Zealand and the United Kingdom, silver coins continued to be issued until after decimalization.
laws but they were widely used and accepted. The Queensland
and New South Wales
governments also issued notes. The Queensland treasury notes were legal tender
in Queensland.
The first national issue of paper money consisted of overprinted notes from fifteen private banks and the Queensland government, issued between 1910-1914 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pounds. They were overprinted with the words "Australian note". No 100 pound banknotes of this series are known to exist (Renniks 2000, p. 134)
In 1913 the first national banknotes were introduced in denominations of 10 shillings, 1, 5, and 10 pounds. 1914 saw the introduction of 20, 50, 100, and 1000 pound notes. The 1000 pound note only saw limited circulation and was later confined to inter-bank use. Stocks were destroyed in 1969 and there are no uncancelled examples of this note known to exist in private hands(Renniks 2000, p. 157). There were two types of the never-issued 5 shilling note, one around 1916 and the other 1946 (Renniks 2000, p. 160), both had the reigning monarch and were later destroyed in 1936 and 1953, respectively (Renniks 2000, p. 160).
In the mid-1920s a modified 10 shilling (worded as "Half Sovereign"), and reduced-size 1, 5 and 10 pound notes were issued with the side profile of King George V
on the face. These notes still referred to the currency's convertibility to gold on demand. A newer 1000 pound note with the profile of George V was also prepared but never issued. An unissued printer's trial of this note was discovered in London
in 1996 and subsequently sold for a sum in excess of 200,000 Australian dollars. Nonetheless, this note is not recognised as a legitimate Australian banknote issue.
Just after the start of the Great Depression
in 1933, Australian currency ceased to be redeemable for gold at the previously maintained rate of one gold sovereign for one pound currency. Subsequently a new series of Legal Tender
notes were designed, once again bearing the portrait of King George V, in denominations of 10 shillings and 1, 5 and 10 pounds. These denominations and designs were maintained and modified to accommodate the portrait of King George VI
in 1938.
The coronation
of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 saw the issue of a new portrait series of prominent persons in Australia's history.
Unissued notes that were printed but never issued for circulation include 2 different 5 shillings, a 1916 with stock destroyed in 1936, and a 1946, stock destroyed in 1953. Both were printed with the reigning king's portrait. Two fifty pound notes were designed, one from 1939 with King George VI
and a 1951 as stated above. Both stocks of the £50 note were destroyed in 1958. A 1939 £100 also exist with a brown, green and pink colouration, with stock destroyed in 1958 as well. The last unissued note was a £1,000, with specimens arriving in 1923 and kept till 1928 after a decision not to use the denomination any further.
The reserve bank holds specimens of all the stated banknote denominations.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
. It was subdivided into 20 shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s, each of 12 pence
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
.
Earlier Australian currencies
The history of currency in Australia could be said to begin in 1800, when GovernorGovernors of New South Wales
The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
issued a proclamation setting the value of a variety of foreign coins in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. However, because of the shortage of any sort of money, the real currency during the first twenty-five years of settlement was rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
, leading to terms such as the "Rum Corps
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
" and the "Rum Rebellion
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20...
".
Australia's first coinage was issued in 1813 by the colony of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
by punching the middle out of Spanish dollars. This process created two parts: a small coin, which was called the dump in Australia, and a ring, which was called a Holey dollar
Holey dollar
Holey dollar is the name given to coins used in the early history of two British settlements: Prince Edward Island and New South Wales. The middle was punched out of Spanish dollars, creating two parts: a small coin, known as a "dump" in Australia, and a "holey dollar".-Prince Edward Island :From...
. One holey dollar was worth five shillings (a quarter of one pound Sterling), and one dump was worth one shilling and three pence (or one quarter of a Holey dollar). This was done in order to keep the coins in New South Wales, as they would be valueless elsewhere.
In 1825, an Imperial order-in-council was issued with the purpose of introducing Sterling coinage to all the British colonies. This was due to the introduction of the gold standard in the UK (1816), and a decline in the supply of Spanish dollars. Most of the dollars used had been minted in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, and Potosi
Potosí
Potosí is a city and the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal . and it was the location of the Spanish colonial mint, now the National Mint of Bolivia...
, which had become part of new Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n republics, independent from Spain.
From 1817, when the first bank, the Bank of New South Wales
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
, was established, private banks issued paper money denominated in pounds. In 1852, the Government Assay Office in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
issued gold pound coins. These weighed slightly more than sovereigns
British Sovereign coin
The sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom, with a nominal value of one pound sterling but in practice used as a bullion coin.Named after the English gold sovereign, last minted in 1604, the name was revived with the Great Recoinage of 1816. Minting these new sovereigns began in 1817...
. From 1855, the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
mint issued half sovereigns and sovereigns, with the Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
mint beginning production in 1872. Many of the sovereigns minted in Australia were for use in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
as part of a plan that the gold sovereign should become the imperial coin. As it turned out, India was already too entrenched in the Rupee system, and the gold sovereigns obtained by the treasury in India never left the vaults.
After Federation in 1901, the Australian government assumed the power to issue currency and began overprinting the private issues that were in circulation, in preparation for the issue of a domestic currency. In 1910 the federal government passed the "Australian Notes Act" which prohibited the circulation of State notes. Also passed in that year was the "Bank Notes Tax Act
Australian Bank Notes Tax Act 1910
The Bank Notes Tax Act of 1910 effectively ended the era of private currency in Australia.It is a federal law that imposes on all bank issued currency a tax of ten per cent...
" which imposed a tax of 10% per annum on "all bank notes issued or re-issued by any bank in the Commonwealth after the commencement of this Act, and not redeemed". Both these acts remain on the statute books and perpetuate the prohibition of private currencies in Australia.
The Australian pound: a national currency
In 1910 a national currency was introduced by the LaborAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Government of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
. The new national currency was called the Australian pound, consisting of 20 shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s, each consisting of 12 pence
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
. Monetary policy ensured that the Australian pound was fixed in value to the pound sterling. As such Australia was on the gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
so long as Britain was.
In 1914, the pound sterling was removed from the gold standard. When it was returned to the gold standard in 1925, the sudden increase in its value (imposed by the nominal gold price) unleashed crushing deflationary pressures. Both the initial 1914 inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
and the subsequent 1926 deflation had far-reaching economic effects throughout the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, Australia and the world. In 1929, as an emergency measure during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Australia left the gold standard, resulting in a devaluation relative to sterling. A variety of pegs to sterling applied until December 1931, when the government set a rate of 1 Australian pound = 16 shillings sterling (1 pound 5 shillings Australian = 1 pound sterling).
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
produced currency notes, some denominated in the Australian pound, for use in Pacific countries intended for occupation. Since Australia was never occupied, the occupation currency was not used there, but it was used in the captured parts of the then-Australian territories of Papua
Papua (Australian territory)
The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1949. It became a British Protectorate in the year 1884, and four years later it was formally annexed as British New Guinea...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
.
In 1949, when the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
devalued the pound sterling against the US dollar, Australian Prime Minister and Treasurer Ben Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
followed suit so the Australian pound would not become over-valued in sterling zone countries with which Australia did most of its external trade at the time. As one pound sterling went from US$4.03 to US$2.8, one Australian pound went from US$3.224 to US$2.24.
The Pound's replacement by the dollar
On 14 February 1966, a decimal currency, the dollarAustralian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
, was introduced after years of planning. 2 February 1963 had been initially planned as the date the new currency would be introduced but this date passed with no fanfare as no progress on developing the new currency had been made at that time. The exchange rate was 1 pound = 2 dollars. Thus, 10 shillings became 1 dollar and 1 shilling became 10 cents.
An exchange rate of $2.00:£1 was problematic for the pre-decimal penny since the shilling was divided into twelve pence. An exchange rate of $2.40:£1 would have allowed for accurate conversion down to the penny, however the Government thought it more important that the new currency unit be more valuable than the United States dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
which it would not have been under a 2.4:1 ratio. Amounts less than a shilling were converted thus:
| Pence | Accurate conversion | Pence !! Accurate conversion | Actual conversion | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ½d | c | 0.417c | 6½d | 5c | 5c | |
| 1d | c | 0.83c | 7d | 5c | 6c | |
| 1½d | 1c | 1.25c | 7½d | 6c | 6c | |
| 2d | 1c | 2c | 8d | 6c | 7c | |
| 2½d | 2c | 2c | 8½d | 7c | 7c | |
| 3d | 2c | 2c | 9d | 7c | 8c | |
| 3½d | 2c | 3c | 9½d | 7c | 8c | |
| 4d | 3c | 3c | 10d | 8c | 8c | |
| 4½d | 3c | 4c | 10½d | 8c | 9c | |
| 5d | 4c | 4c | 11d | 9c | 9c | |
| 5½d | 4c | 5c | 11½d | 9c | 9c | |
| 6d | 5c | 5c | 12d | 1 s = 10c | 1 s = 10c |
Coins
In 1855, gold ½ and 1 sovereigns were first minted by the Sydney mint. These coins were the only denominations issued by the Australian mints until after Federation.In 1910, .925 fineness sterling silver
Sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925....
coins in denominations of 3 and 6 pence, 1 and 2 shillings (florin
Florin (Australian coin)
The Australian florin was a coin used in the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation in 1966. The denomination was first minted in 1910, to the same size and weight as the United Kingdom florin. Florins minted from 1910 to 1945 were produced with a .925 sterling silver content, weighing...
). Unlike in the United Kingdom, no half crown
Half crown (British coin)
The half crown was a denomination of British money worth half of a crown, equivalent to two and a half shillings , or one-eighth of a pound. The half crown was first issued in 1549, in the reign of Edward VI...
s were issued. Bronze ½ and 1 penny
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
coins followed in 1911. Production of ½ sovereigns ceased in 1916, followed by that of sovereigns in 1931. In 1937 a five shilling piece was issued to commemorate the coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
. This coin proved unpopular and was discontinued shortly after being reissued in 1938.
In 1946, the fineness of the silver coins was reduced to .500 but, unlike New Zealand and the United Kingdom, silver coins continued to be issued until after decimalization.
Banknotes
Numerous private banks issued paper money in Australia, starting with the issues of the Bank of New South Wales in 1817. Acceptance of private bank notes was not made compulsory by legal tenderLegal tender
Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....
laws but they were widely used and accepted. The Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
governments also issued notes. The Queensland treasury notes were legal tender
Legal tender
Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....
in Queensland.
The first national issue of paper money consisted of overprinted notes from fifteen private banks and the Queensland government, issued between 1910-1914 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pounds. They were overprinted with the words "Australian note". No 100 pound banknotes of this series are known to exist (Renniks 2000, p. 134)
In 1913 the first national banknotes were introduced in denominations of 10 shillings, 1, 5, and 10 pounds. 1914 saw the introduction of 20, 50, 100, and 1000 pound notes. The 1000 pound note only saw limited circulation and was later confined to inter-bank use. Stocks were destroyed in 1969 and there are no uncancelled examples of this note known to exist in private hands(Renniks 2000, p. 157). There were two types of the never-issued 5 shilling note, one around 1916 and the other 1946 (Renniks 2000, p. 160), both had the reigning monarch and were later destroyed in 1936 and 1953, respectively (Renniks 2000, p. 160).
In the mid-1920s a modified 10 shilling (worded as "Half Sovereign"), and reduced-size 1, 5 and 10 pound notes were issued with the side profile of King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
on the face. These notes still referred to the currency's convertibility to gold on demand. A newer 1000 pound note with the profile of George V was also prepared but never issued. An unissued printer's trial of this note was discovered in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1996 and subsequently sold for a sum in excess of 200,000 Australian dollars. Nonetheless, this note is not recognised as a legitimate Australian banknote issue.
Just after the start of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1933, Australian currency ceased to be redeemable for gold at the previously maintained rate of one gold sovereign for one pound currency. Subsequently a new series of Legal Tender
Legal tender
Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....
notes were designed, once again bearing the portrait of King George V, in denominations of 10 shillings and 1, 5 and 10 pounds. These denominations and designs were maintained and modified to accommodate the portrait of King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
in 1938.
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 saw the issue of a new portrait series of prominent persons in Australia's history.
- 10s – Matthew FlindersMatthew FlindersCaptain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
- £1 – Queen Elizabeth II
- £5 – Sir John FranklinJohn FranklinRear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
- £10 – Arthur PhillipArthur PhillipAdmiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
- £50 - Sir Henry ParkesHenry ParkesSir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...
(This note was never issued to the public. A few specimens exist in private hands.)
Unissued notes that were printed but never issued for circulation include 2 different 5 shillings, a 1916 with stock destroyed in 1936, and a 1946, stock destroyed in 1953. Both were printed with the reigning king's portrait. Two fifty pound notes were designed, one from 1939 with King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and a 1951 as stated above. Both stocks of the £50 note were destroyed in 1958. A 1939 £100 also exist with a brown, green and pink colouration, with stock destroyed in 1958 as well. The last unissued note was a £1,000, with specimens arriving in 1923 and kept till 1928 after a decision not to use the denomination any further.
The reserve bank holds specimens of all the stated banknote denominations.