Australia

Australia began producing its own coins on Monday, February 22, 1965. On this day, His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra and commissioned the presses to produce Australia's decimal coinage. Until this date, coins had been struck in Australia at the Perth, Sydney and Melbourne Mints, which were branches of London's Royal Mint. Australia literally had to buy its own coins from the Royal Mint until 1965.

The Royal Australian Mint is located in Deakin, an established older suburb in Australia's national capital of Canberra. Visitors and tourists are well catered to with elevated galleries giving visual access to almost every production stage. A major review of the operations of the Royal Australian Mint was completed in 1987. This has resulted in a number of significant changes, enabling the Mint to become internationally competitive. Blank manufacturing facilities were removed to provide greatly increased production capacity for both Australian and overseas coins. Proof coin production has also been greatly enhanced following the introduction of a new dust-free area.

Ongoing emphasis on quality control, research and development, innovation and efficient use of resources means that the Mint produces circulating and numismatic coins of consistently high quality on a very competitive basis. Australian coins, with their unique designs reflecting many facets of Australian history, culture and wildlife, are highly sought by collectors all over the world.

Since decimal currency was introduced to Australia in 1966, more than eight billion coins have been produced by the Royal Australian Mint to meet Australia's circulating coin needs. Following a decision by the Federal Treasurer in the 1990 Budget, the Royal Australian Mint no longer produces 1- and 2-cent coins. However, these coins remained legal tender and continued to circulate for some time.

For further information, contact the North American Agent for the Royal Australian Mint, Downie's Ltd, P.O. Box 23064, Lancing, Michigan 48909, Telephone 1-800-636-9643, Fax 517-394-0579