These pages show the different types of circulating coins produced in the Commonwealth of Australia. My target audience is not so much the serious numismatist, but more the novice and casual collector. Coins can be collected in various manners: coins for circulation versus coins for collectors, individual coins versus sets or rolls, circulated coins versus mint state, every date and mint mark versus major types. This Web site presents information to help with assembling a "type" collection of individual circulated Commonwealth of Australia coins. What is "type" collecting? Type collecting is assembling coins of different designs. A type set generally excludes minor variations that include the same basic design. Examples are date change, and mint marks. Major variations in coin composition (such as a switch from 80% silver to copper-nickel) constitute a type change, but a minor variation (such as 0.925 silver to 0.500 silver) do not represent a type change. Different collectors will have their own opinions of what coins should be included in a type collection. The following is my interpretation of significant year-to-year changes in Australian circulating coins. The monetary system of Australia proceeded as follows: 1901-1964 12 Pence = 1 Shilling 2 Shillings = 1 Florin 5 Shillings = 1 Crown 20 Shillings = 1 Pound (Sovereign) 1966- 100 Cents = 1 Dollar Half Penny Starting with 1911-1936 One Penny Starting with 1911-1936 Three Pence Starting with 1910 Six Pence Starting with 1910 One Shilling Starting with 1910 Two Shillings Starting with 1910 One Crown Starting with 1937-1938 Half Sovereign Starting with 1902-1910 One Sovereign Starting with 1901 One Cent Starting with 1966-1984 Two Cents Starting with 1966-1984 Five Cents Starting with 1966-1984 Ten Cents Starting with 1966-1984 Twenty Cents Starting with 1966-1984 Fifty Cents Starting with 1966 One Dollar Starting with 1984 Two Dollars Starting with 1988 References: - 1994 Standard Catalog of World Coins, by Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler, 1993. - 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001-date, by Colin Bruce and Thomas Michael, 2008. - The Guidebook and Catalogue of British Commonwealth Coins, 3rd Edition, 1649-1971, by Jerome Remick, Somer James, Anthony Dowle, and Patrick Finn, 1971.

Other web pages of interest: Coins on Stamps: Australia New Zealand Coins: Type Collecting United Kingdom Coins: Type Collecting Canadian Coins: Type Collecting United States Coins: Type Collecting Chronology of Canadian Coins This Day in History