Shilling, Coin Type from Australia - detailed information

The Australian Shilling is a silver coin which was used in the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation. It has the same dimensions and composition as the British pre-decimal shilling, from which it is derived (for a time, the coins circulated in parallel and were interchangeable in Australia - but not in the United Kingdom). A shilling is equal to 1/20th of a pound.

The reverse of the first type of Australian shilling coins featured the 1908 Coat of Arms. In 1938, a new design superseded it, featuring a merino ram's head; the old type of coins remained in circulation.

The coins were initially struck by the Royal Mint, then mostly by the Melbourne Mint; during World War II its production was supplemented by coinage produced by the United States Mint:
- Royal Mint, 1910 - 1915, no mint mark
- Birmingham Mint (ex Heaton and Sons), 1915, letter H
- Melbourne Mint, 1916 - 1963, letter M to 1920, then no mint mark
- Sydney Mint, 1921 - 1926, star in 1921 only, then no mint mark
- United States Mint, San Francisco, 1942 - 1944, with S mint mark
- Perth Mint, 1946 only, dots before and after the denomination: .SHILLING. for mint mark

The coins were made of sterling silver (composition: 0.925 silver) until 1946; this was later debased to 50% silver while retaining the Ram's Head design

After decimalisation on 14 February 1966, the shilling was re-denominated as 10 cents and continued to circulate for a time, along with the new 10¢ coins which were the same size and weight (but made of copper-nickel). Even though they were practically withdrawn from circulation in 1966, the shilling coins were never formally demonetised and are still legal tender.