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The Australian penny coin was a small circulating denomination of the Australian Pound. It has the same dimensions and composition as the British pre-decimal penny, from which it is derived (for a time, the coins circulated in parallel and were interchangeable in Australia - but not in the United Kingdom; the currencies were fixed at par). It was worth one twelfth of an Australian shilling and 1/240 of an Australian pound.
The reverse of the first type of Australian penny coins featured text only. In 1938, this new design by George Kruger Gray superseded it - featuring the iconic leaping kangaroo.
Coins issued in 1949 were withdrawn at decimalisation in 1966 after 17 years in circulation, but have never been formally demonetised and are still legal tender.
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| Mint | Melbourne Mint |
Mint Mark | No mint mark |
Total Mintage |
27,064,800 (27.1 million)
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| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin shows the bare (uncrowned) head of King George VI facing left.
Below the neck truncation in small letters, the artist's initials HP (for [Thomas] Humphrey Paget).
Around, the monarch's legend: GEORGIVS VI D : G : BR : OMN : REX FIDEI DEF.. Translated from Latin: George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith.
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| Reverse | |
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Kangaroo leaping to the left; around above, the legend AUSTRALIA.
Around below, the denomination PENNY; the seven pointed Federation star is in the field to the left of the kangaroo and the date 1949 is in the field below its tail.
The artist's initials KG (for [George] Kruger Gray) are above the tip of the kangaroo's tail. |
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| Edge | Plain | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | On this penny issue the reference to the King as Emperor of India is dropped for the first time - due to the Independence of India - and the abbreviation F:D: for "Defender of the Faith" is expanded to FIDEI DEF. |
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