1971 Australian 5c Coin

Description

The 5 cent coin was first introduced with decimalisation on 14 February 1966. Given that the earlier Australian Pound was equal to 240 pence, and the new Australian Dollar was introduced at two dollars to the pound, the five cents denomination was exactly equal to the earlier Australian Sixpence – both in value and in size (the coins were made of the same dimensions and mass). It is thus a direct descendant of the British Sixpence.

The original reverse design by Stuart Devlin has not been changed since the introduction. After the withdrawal of the one cent and two cents denominations from circulation in February 1992, the five cent coin is now the smallest circulating coin of the Australian dollar.

Australian 5 cent coins have been produced by the Royal Australian Mint, the Royal Mint, Llantrisant and the Royal Canadian Mint.

Composition: 75% copper, 25% nickel.

Australian decimal coins have carried four portraits of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.

The inclusion of an effigy of the Queen on the obverse of Australia’s coinage is mandated by Regulation 4 (c) of the Currency Regulations made under the Currency Act 1965. Portraits of Her Majesty have all faced to the right in line with a convention, said to have commenced with Charles II (1660-1685), that the new Monarch’s portrait would face in a direction opposite to that of their predecessor.

An echidna (also known as a spiny ant-eater) seen from below as it rolls into a protective ball. The denomination numeral 5 [cents] is above the lower half of the animal; the artist’s initials SD (for Stuart Devlin) are below the numeral in (very) tiny letters.

Additional information