Banknotes of the Australian dollar
The banknotes of the Australian dollar, were first issued on the 14 February 1966, when Australia adopted decimal currency.
Former series (paper)
The $5 note was not issued until 1967. The $1 (10/-,) $2 (£1,) $10 (£5,) and $20 (£10) had exact exchange rates with pounds, but the $5 (£2/10) did not, and so was introduced after the public had become familiar with decimal currency. Notes issued between 1966 and 1972 bore the title "Commonwealth of Australia". Starting from 1973, the title on the new notes only read "Australia". The $50 note was introduced in 1973 and the $100 note in 1984, in response to inflation requiring larger denominations for transactions. The one dollar note was replaced by a large coin in 1984, while the two dollar note was replaced by a small coin in 1988.
Paper Series [1] | |||||||
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Image | Value | Dimensions | Main Colour | Description | Date of issue | ||
Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | ||||
$1 | 140 × 70 mm | Brown and orange | Queen Elizabeth II | David Malangi | 1966 | ||
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$2 | 152 × 76 mm | Green and yellow | John Macarthur | William Farrer | 1966 |
$5 | Mauve | Sir Joseph Banks | Caroline Chisholm | 1967 | |||
$10 | 155 × 76 mm | Blue and orange | Francis Greenway | Henry Lawson | 1966 | ||
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$20 | 160 × 81 mm | Red and yellow | Sir Charles Kingsford Smith | Lawrence Hargrave | 1966 | |
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$50 | 165 × 82 mm | Gold, blue, brown and green | Baron Florey | Ian Clunies Ross | 1973 | |
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$100 | 172 × 82.5 mm | Light blue and grey | Sir Douglas Mawson | John Tebbutt | 1984 |
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table. |
Current series (polymer)
In 1988, the Reserve Bank of Australia issued plastic, specifically polypropylene polymer banknotes (which were produced by Note Printing Australia), to commemorate the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia. These notes contained a transparent "window" with an optically variable image of Captain James Cook as a security feature. Australian banknotes were the first in the world to use such features.
There were initial difficulties with the first banknote issued, the $10 note (pictured), was recalled because of problems with the holographic security feature detaching from the note. However, the Reserve Bank saw potential in the issue of plastic banknotes and commenced preparations for an entirely new series made from polymer, commencing with the $5 note in 1992. In 1995, the design of the $5 note was updated to match the rest of the New Note Series, with additional slight changes in 1996. In 2001, a special commemorative $5 note was produced, but in 2002, the previous version's production commenced again.
In 2002, the design of all notes (except for the $5 note picturing the Queen) were slightly changed to include the names of the people pictured on them under the portraits, and swapping the order of the signatures of officials on the notes.
Today all Australian notes are made of polymer.
Second series (1991- ) [1] | |||||||||
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Image | Value | Dimensions | Main Colour | Description | Date of | ||||
Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | Transparent Window | printing | issue | |||
Original $51 | 130 mm × 65 mm | Pale mauve[2] | Queen Elizabeth II | Parliament House and old Parliament House | Gum flower | 1992 | 7 July 1992 | ||
File:5 Australian Dollars Queen front.jpg | File:5 Australian Dollars Queen back.jpg | Recoloured $5 | Violet/pink | Currently printing | 24 April 1995 | ||||
File:Australian 5note front (new).jpg | File:Australian 5note back (new).jpg | Federation $52 | Sir Henry Parkes | Catherine Helen Spence | Leaf shaped window and "5" | 2001 | 1 January 2001 | ||
File:10 Australian dollars front.jpg | File:10 Australian dollars back.jpg | $103 | 137 mm × 65 mm | Blue | Banjo Paterson | Dame Mary Gilmore | Windmill | Currently printing | 1 November 1993 |
File:Australian $20 note polymer front.jpg | File:Australian $20 note polymer front.jpg | $20 | 144 mm × 65 mm | Red | Mary Reibey | Reverend John Flynn | Compass and "20" | Currently printing | 31 October 1994 |
File:Australian $50 note polymer front.jpg | ![]() |
$50 | 151 mm × 65 mm | Yellow | David Unaipon | Edith Cowan | Southern Cross and "50" | Currently printing | 4 October 1995 |
File:100 Australian dollars front.jpg | File:100 Australian dollars back.jpg | $100 | 158 mm × 65 mm | Green | Dame Nellie Melba | General Sir John Monash | Lyrebird and "100" | Currently printing | 15 May 1996 |
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table. | |||||||||
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Proposed Japanese occupation currency notes
During World War II Japan had prepared to invade many countries including Australia. Because of this, the Japanese government at the time designed its own currency for use in Australia. It should be noted that this is not the only currency outside of their own that they decided to use. For these examples see Japanese military yen.
However due to the fact that Japan never succeeded in their goal of invasion the currency was never used in Australia. It was however used in the captured Australian colonies of Papua New Guinea.
The notes may be viewed at the Reserve Bank Of Australia website.[3]
References
- ^ Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values
- ^ Ian W. Pitt, ed. (2000). Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values (19th ed. ed.). Chippendale, N.S.W.: Renniks Publications. p. 168. ISBN 0-9585574-4-6.
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has extra text (help) - ^ The Commonwealth Bank and the note issue: 1920–1960
External links
- Australian Decimal Banknotes
- The Money Tracker site allows users to track Australian banknotes as they circulate around Australia.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia have a full timeline of Australian Banknotes.
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