Threepence - Coat of Arms, Coin Type from Australia - detailed information

The Australian Threepence (or three pence) is a small 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 threepence, from which it is derived (for a time, the coins circulated in parallel and were interchangeable in Australia - but not in the United Kingdom). 3 pence were equal to one quarter of a shilling, or 1/80th of a pound.

The reverse of this first type of Australian threepence coins features the 1908 Coat of Arms. In 1938, a new design superseded this one - featuring three stalks of grain; the old type of coins remained in circulation.

The coins were struck by three different mints; if they had mint marks for a particular year of issue, those are located under the date on the reverse:
- Royal Mint, 1910 - 1915, no mint mark
- Melbourne Mint, 1916 - 1936, letter M to 1921, then no mint mark
- Sydney Mint, 1924 - 1926, no mint mark

The coins were made of sterling silver (composition: 0.925 silver, equal to 0.0419 oz ASW). They circulated until decimalisation and were withdrawn in 1966, when Australia switched to its current Australian Dollar currency. Unlike some of the larger denominations, they were not re-denominated into units of the new currency. However, the threepence coins were never formally demonetised and are still legal tender for 2½¢.