One Cent 1966, Coin from Australia - detailed information

The Australian one-cent coin is the smallest denomination of the Australian dollar. It was introduced with the Currency Act 1965 (Commonwealth) but - unlike some of the other denominations - it did not replace an earlier pre-decimal coin; given that the 5 cents piece replaced the sixpence, one cent was technically equal to 1.2 pence but the Act rounded that to one penny. The one cent coin was much smaller than the penny though, so the penny denomination did not continue to circulate (unlike the sixpence, shilling and florin which were equivalent to respectively 5 cents, 10 cents and 20 cents and were re-denominated as such).

Coins issued in 1966 circulated for 26 years before, together with coins of the two cent denomination, they were withdrawn from circulation in February 1992. They have never been demonetised though and remain legal tender.

Although there was no formal mint mark, the products of the Melbourne, Perth and Canberra mints can be identified by comparison of the whiskers on the animal's left. The Melbourne coins have the first whisker (nearest the rim) blunted; Perth coins have the second whisker blunted while Canberra pieces show no blunting.

There were also 18,110 proof sets made.