Australia | |
Value | 2.00 AUD |
---|---|
Mass | 6.60 g |
Diameter | 20.50 mm |
Thickness | 2.80 mm |
Edge | interrupted milled 20 notches |
Composition | 92% copper, 6% aluminium, 2% nickel |
Years of minting | 1988–present |
Obverse | |
Design | Queen Elizabeth II (1988–2023) King Charles III (2024–present) |
Designer | Various (1988–2023) Dan Thorne (2024–present) [1] |
Design date | 2024 |
Reverse | |
Design | An Aboriginal Australian elder (based on Gwoja Tjungurrayi) |
Designer | Horst Hahne |
Design date | 1987 |
The Australian two-dollar coin is the highest-denomination coin of the Australian dollar. It was first issued on 20 June 1988, having been in planning since the mid-1970s. It replaced the Australian two-dollar note due to having a longer circulatory life. [2] The only "mint set only" year was 1991.
$2 coins are legal tender for amounts not exceeding 10 times the face value of the coin for any payment of a debt. [3]
In accordance with all other Australian coins, the obverse features the portrait of the reigning monarch, who during the lifetime of the coin has primarily been Queen Elizabeth II. From 1988 to 1998 the portrait of her was by Raphael Maklouf before being replaced in the following year by one sculpted by Ian Rank-Broadley. [4] Since 2019, the effigy of Elizabeth II by artist Jody Clark has been released into circulation. In 2024, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, coins with a new obverse featuring the portrait of King Charles III entered general circulation. [5]
Designed by Horst Hahne, the reverse depicts what is meant to be an archetype of an Aboriginal elder. [6] The drawing was based on Ainslie Roberts' drawing of Gwoya Tjungurrayi, also known as "One Pound Jimmy", a Warlpiri-Anmatyerre man of the Northern Territory of Australia. [7] [2] Tjungarrayi was one of the few survivors of one of the last recognised massacres of Aboriginal people by the British – the 1928 Coniston massacre in what was then the territory of Central Australia. [6] [8] The design also incorporates the Southern Cross and native grasstrees.
Coins produced in 1988 and 1989 bear the initials of its designer, Horst Hahne, but they were removed from the design from 1990 onwards. [2]
All two-dollar coins have been struck at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra. 160.9 million coins were minted in the first year of issue. It has been issued in all years since except 1991, [2] with an average mintage of 22 million coins per annum from 1989 to 2008.
In 2012, the Australian mint released the first ever different designed two-dollar coin. It features a poppy flower, with the words Lest we Forget and Remembrance Day in the background of the coin. There had been no commemorative designs for this issue, until the 2012 Remembrance coin was minted. Along with the 2012 Remembrance coin was a coin with the same text and image but the centre poppy was red with a black centre. It was therefore the first coloured circulating coin in Australia.
On 21 June 2013, a third commemorative two-dollar coin was launched by the Royal Australian Mint. This coin, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, featured a purple circle bordering St Edward's Crown. [9]
As a part of the 100 years of Anzac Day a coin programme launched by the Royal Australian Mint, two separate coloured coins were released. The first was released in 2014, it featured two green circles in the middle of the coin and a dove in the centre. The word Remembrance was stretched across the top of the coin. In 2015, the fourth circulating coloured coin in Australia was released. It includes red stripes much like the 2013 Queen Coronation coin. It also features five crosses amongst poppies and the words Lest we Forget in the centre. A fifth coin was also released in 2015. It is sunset orange and it features a sun in the centre with birds and the Flanders Field poem in the background.
In 2016 a commemorative coin was issued for the Rio Olympic Games. Five Coins were issued for circulation via Woolworths and were made available in packs of the 5 coins on 27 July 2016. A Paralympic Games coin was issued on 22 August 2016. [10]
When the coin was introduced there were complaints that the coin was too small for its value and was easily lost, or counterfeited by placing two 5-cent pieces together and colouring them gold.[ citation needed ] However, with an uninterrupted milling on the 5-cent, and the 2 dollars having 5 grooves in 4 lots separated by 7 mm length of the side, identification is easy. It has the same size and milling as the 10 Swedish kronor.
Its smaller size in comparison to the $1 coin can lead to confusion for visitors from outside Australia.
The coin has only been struck at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra, the nation's capital. The only year without production was 1991 (due to the large number issued for the coin's introduction in 1988). [2]
Year | Mintage | ||
---|---|---|---|
1988* | 160,900,000 | ||
1989* | 31,600,000 | ||
1990 | 10,300,000 | ||
1991 | – | ||
1992 | 15,500,000 | ||
1993 | 4,900,000 | ||
1994 | 22,100,000 | ||
1995 | 15,500,000 | ||
1996 | 13,900,000 | ||
1997 | 19,000,000 | ||
1998 | 8,700,000 | ||
1999 | 27,300,000 | ||
2000 | 5,700,000 | ||
2001 | 35,600,000 | ||
2002 | 29,700,000 | ||
2003 | 13,700,000 | ||
2004 | 20,000,000 | ||
2005 | 45,500,000 | ||
2006 | 40,500,000 | ||
2007 | 26,000,000 | ||
2008 | 47,000,000 | ||
2009 | 74,500,000 | ||
2010 | 36,500,000 | ||
2011 | 1,800,000 | ||
2012 | 5,900,000 | ||
2013 | 35,100,000 | ||
2014 | 39,900,000 | ||
2015 | 22,000,000 | ||
2016 | 12,900,000 | ||
2017 | 16,400,000 | ||
2018 | 14,600,000 | ||
2019 | IRB 9,000,000 JC 2,000,000 | ||
"*" denotes that coins were minted with the designer's initials | |||
References: [2] |
Year | Subject | Colours/Features | Mintage |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Poppy | None | 5,800,000 |
Red | 500,000 | ||
2012 | Commemorating Remembrance Day with an image of a red poppy. Designed by Aaron Baggio. | .5 million | |
2013 | 60th Anniversary of Queen's Coronation | Purple | 1,000,000 |
2014 | Remembrance Day | Green | 1,850,000 |
2015 | 100 Years of ANZACs | Red | 1,460,000 |
In Flanders Field | Orange | 2,150,000 | |
2016 | 50 Years of Decimal Currency | Pre-decimal Crown on obverse | 2,880,000 |
2016 Rio Olympics** | Blue | 2,000,000 | |
Black | |||
Red | |||
Yellow | |||
Green | |||
2016 Rio Paralympics** | Green/Yellow/Red/Blue | ||
2017 | Lest We Forget | Blue/Green/Yellow | 3,900,000 |
Possum Magic** | Pink/Purple/Orange/Blue | N/A | |
Red/Orange/Purple/Yellow/Blue | |||
Blue/Navy/Pink/Orange/Green | |||
Remembrance | Green/Purple rosemary. | 2,100,000 | |
2018 | 2018 Commonwealth Games** | Red | TBA |
Green | |||
Blue | |||
Eternal Flame | Blue/Orange | 3,400,000* | |
2018 Invictus Games | None | TBA | |
2018 | 100th Anniversary of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 | Red | 1,700,000 |
2019 | Mr. Squiggle** | Turquoise/Yellow/Red | TBA |
Yellow/Orange/Green | |||
Pink/Orange/Green | |||
Blue/Black/White | |||
30th Anniversary of National Police Remembrance Day | Blue/White | ||
Wallabies – 2019 Rugby World Cup** | Green/Gold | ||
2020 | ICC Women's T20 World Cup** | Yellow/Blue/Purple | TBA |
2020 Tokyo Olympics** | Blue cherry blossoms | ||
Black cherry blossoms | |||
Red cherry blossoms | |||
Yellow cherry blossoms | |||
Green cherry blossoms | |||
2020 Tokyo Paralympics** | Green/Yellow | ||
"*" denotes partial numbers – total production to be confirmed | |||
"**" denotes release through Woolworths Supermarkets | |||
References: [2] [10] [11] [12] |
The British two pound coin (£2) is a denomination of sterling coinage. Its obverse has featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin’s release. Three different portraits of the Queen have been used, with the current design by Jody Clark being introduced in 2015. The reverse design features Britannia.
The British five pound (£5) coin is a commemorative denomination of sterling coinage. As of October 2022, the obverse of new coins feature the profile of King Charles III. The obverse previously depicted Queen Elizabeth II between the coin's introduction in 1990 and the Queen's death in 2022. Two different portraits of the Queen graced the coin, with the last design by Ian Rank-Broadley being introduced in 1998. The coin has no standard reverse; instead it is altered each year to commemorate important events. Variant obverses have also been used on occasion.
The crown was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄4 of one pound, or 5 shillings, or 60 (old) pence. The crown was first issued during the reign of Edward VI, as part of the coinage of the Kingdom of England.
The Royal Canadian Mint is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the Royal Canadian Mint Act. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada.
The quarter, short for quarter dollar, is a Canadian coin worth 25 cents or one-fourth of a Canadian dollar. It is a small, circular coin of silver colour. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official name for the coin is the 25-cent piece, but in practice it is usually called a "quarter", much like its American counterpart. In Canadian French, it is called a caribou or trente sous. The coin is produced at the mint's facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Holey dollar is the name given to coins used in the early history of two British settlements: Prince Edward Island and New South Wales. The middle was punched out of Spanish dollars, creating two parts: a small coin, known as a "dump" in Australia, and a "holey dollar". This was one of the first coins struck in Australia.
The Cook Islands dollar was the former currency of the Cook Islands, which now uses the New Zealand dollar, although some physical cash issued for the Cook Islands dollar remains in use. The dollar was subdivided into 100 cents, with some older 50-cent coins carrying the denomination as "50 tene".
The twelve-sided Australian fifty-cent coin 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 $5 coin, and both remain the only 12-sided coins in the southern hemisphere. It was introduced in 1969 to replace the round fifty-cent coin issued in 1966.
The twenty-cent coin of the Australian decimal currency system was issued with conversion to decimal currency on 14 February 1966, replacing the florin which was worth two shillings, a tenth of a pound.
The Australian five-cent coin is the lowest-denomination circulating coin of the decimal Australian dollar introduced in 14 February 1966, replacing the pre-decimal sixpence. It has been the lowest-denomination coin in general circulation since the withdrawal of the one-cent and two-cent coins in 1992.
The Australian ten-cent coin is a coin of the decimal Australian dollar. When the dollar was introduced as half of an Australian pound on 14 February 1966, the coin inherited the specifications of the pre-decimal shilling; both coins were worth one twentieth of a pound and were called "bob". On introduction it was the fourth-lowest denomination coin. Since the withdrawal from circulation of the one and two cent coins in 1992, it has been the second-lowest denomination coin in circulation.
The Australian one-dollar coin is the second most valuable circulation denomination coin of the Australian dollar after the two-dollar coin; there are also non-circulating legal-tender coins of higher denominations.
The coins of Canada are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and denominated in Canadian dollars ($) and the subunit of dollars, cents (¢). An effigy of the reigning monarch always appears on the obverse of all coins. There are standard images which appear on the reverse, but there are also commemorative and numismatic issues with different images on the reverse.
The cent, formally the one-cent coin, was the lowest-denomination coin of the Australian dollar. It was introduced on 14 February 1966 in the decimalisation of Australian currency and was withdrawn from circulation in 1992. It is still minted as a non-circulating coin. A one-cent coin in 1966 would have a purchasing power equal to about 16c in 2023 values.
The Australian five-dollar note was first issued on 29 May 1967, fifteen months after the currency was changed from the pound to the dollar on 14 February 1966. It was a new denomination with mauve colouration – the pre-decimal system had no denomination with a value of £21⁄2. The first polymer version of the note was introduced on 7 July 1992. A major design update was issued on 1 September 2016, with a minor update to the signatures in 2019.
Pre-decimal Australian coins arose when the Federation of Australia gave the constitutional power to Commonwealth of Australia to mint its own coinage in 1901. The new power allowed the Commonwealth to issue legal tender rather than individually through the six former British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia.
The coins of the Australian dollar were introduced on 14 February 1966, although they did not at that time include the one-dollar or two-dollar coins. The dollar was equivalent in value to 10 shillings in the former currency.
The coins of the New Zealand dollar are used for the smallest physical currency available in New Zealand. The current denominations are ten cents, twenty cents, fifty cents, one dollar and two dollars. The $1 and $2 coins are minted in a gold colour, the 20c and 50c coins are silver colour and the 10c coin is plated in copper.
Coins of the Australian dollar are circulated with different designs depicting various anniversaries or significant Australian events, these differing coin designs being labelled Australian commemorative coins. Typically, only the 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 coins have been minted in commemoration.
The New Zealand fifty-cent coin is a coin of the New Zealand dollar. It was the largest by denomination, diameter and mass to have been introduced on the decimalisation of the currency on 10 July 1967, replacing the pre-decimal crown coin. A total of 81,585,200 pre-2006 50 cent coins were issued, with a total value of $40,792,600.00