Australian fifty-cent coin

Fifty cents

Australia
Value	0.50 AUD
Mass	15.55 g
Diameter	31.65 (across flats) mm
Thickness	2.80 mm (maximum)
Edge	Plain
Shape	Dodecagonal
Composition	75% copper, 25% nickel
Years of minting	1969–present
Catalog number	—
Obverse
Design	Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia
Designer	Ian Rank-Broadley
Design date	1999
Reverse
Design	Australian coat of arms
Designer	Stuart Devlin
Design date	1965

The twelve-sided Australian fifty-cent coin (Half Dollar) is the third-highest denomination coin of the Australian dollar and the largest in terms of size in circulation. It is equal in size and shape to the Cook Island $5 coin, and both remain to be the only 12-sided coins in the southern hemisphere. It was introduced in 1969 to replace the round fifty-cent coin issued in 1966.

The original, round, 50-cent coin was made of 80% silver and 20% copper; but as the value of a free-floating silver price became higher, the coin's bullion value became more valuable than its face value; so that version was withdrawn from circulation and replaced with the dodecagonal cupro-nickel version.

It is by diameter the largest Australian coin currently issued and second largest after the Crown of 1937–38. It is also the heaviest Australian coin in common circulation. Many commemorative designs have been issued, the large size allowing for detailed content.

With a diameter of 31.65 mm (1.25 in) across flats, the 50-cent coin is one of the largest in volume among those currently circulating in the world. Coins of larger diameter include the Costa Rican five-hundred-colones and the fifty-CFP Franc, both 32.9 mm.

The 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, year dated 50c are only available in mint and proof sets, with the exception of the 1967 and 1968, as no mint/proof sets exist for those years and there were no circulation strikes produced either.

50c coins are legal tender for amounts not exceeding $5 for any payment of a debt.

Value prices of Australia 50-cent.

Year 1965 - 1999 value of 50-cent : $14,200 (AUD)

Year 1982 XII Common Wealth Games Brisbane value of 50-cent : $13,950 (AUD)

Millennium year - Year 2000 value of 50-cent : $800 (AUD)

2001 Centenary Of Federation - Year 2001 value of 50-cent : $2,200 (AUD)

Year 2002 - Year of the outback value of 50-cent : $2,120(AUD)

Year 2003 - Rare Austraila Volunteers value of 50-cent : $6,320 (AUD)

Year 2004 - Australia Primary School Student Design value of 50-cent : 5,810(AUD)

Year 2005 - World War 1939 - 1945 REMEMBRANCE value of 50-cent : $1,598 (AUD)

Obverse

As with all coins of Australia, the reigning monarch features on the obverse. Only Elizabeth II has been monarch during the coin's existence.

Unlike other decimal denominations, five different portraits of the queen have been used on 50c coins. A unique effigy by Vladimir Gottwald was used for the 2000 Royal Visit commemorative fifty-cent piece. This is the only Australian decimal coin to have an obverse designed by an Australian and to have a portrait of the queen which is not also used on British currency.

The other four portraits have featured on all then-current denominations: from 1966 to 1984 one by Arnold Machin, from 1985 to 1998 one by Raphael Maklouf, from 1999 to 2019 a portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley, and since 2019 a portrait by Jody Clark. These portraits were introduced to British coins in 1968, 1985, 1998, and 2015 respectively.

Commemorative coins

Main article: Commemorative coins of Australia

The Australian fifty-cent coin was the first to display a variation of the reverse design in 1970 for the commemorating the bicentennial of Lieutenant James Cook's landing in Australia. Various other designs followed until the one-dollar and twenty-cent also included new designs.

Year	Subject	Mintage
1970	Bicentenary of James Cook’s 1770 Voyage	16,500,000
1977	25th Anniversary of the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II	25,000,000
1981	Marriage of HRH the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer	20,000,000
1982	Brisbane XII Commonwealth Games	49,600,000
1988	Australian Bicentenary	9,000,000
1991	25th Anniversary of Decimal Currency	4,700,000
1994	United Nations International Year of the Family	21,300,000
1995	50th Anniversary of the End of World War 2 - Edward 'Weary' Dunlop	15,900,000
1998	200th Anniversary of the Voyage of Bass and Flinders	22,400,000
2000	Millennium year	16,600,000
	Visit of Queen Elizabeth II	5,100,000
2001	Centenary of Federation	43,100,000
	Centenary of Federation - ACT	2,000,000
	Centenary of Federation - NSW	3,000,000
	Centenary of Federation - Norfolk Island	2,200,000
	Centenary of Federation - NT	2,100,000
	Centenary of Federation - QLD	2,300,000
	Centenary of Federation - SA	2,400,000
	Centenary of Federation - Tas	2,200,000
	Centenary of Federation - Vic	2,800,000
	Centenary of Federation - WA	2,400,000
2002	Year of the Outback	11,500,000
2003	Australia’s Volunteers	13,900,000
2004	Primary School Design Competition winner (John Serrano)	10,200,000
2005	60th Anniversary of the End of World War 2	26,600,000
	Secondary School Commonwealth Games Design Competition winner (Kelly Just)	20,500,000
2010	Australia Day	11,400,000
2014	50th Anniversary of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies	3,000,000
2016	50th Anniversary of Decimal Currency	6,911,000*
2017	50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum / 25th anniversary of the Mabo Decision	1,400,000
2019	International Year of Indigenous Languages
"*" denotes partial numbers for 2016 - total production to be confirmed
Reference:

See also

• Coins of the Australian dollar

External links

• Fifty Cents | Royal Australian Mint
• Fifty Cents, Coin Type from Australia - Online Coin Club