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The Australian two-cent coin is the second 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, two cents were technically equal to 2.4 pence but the Act rounded that to either two or three pence. The halfpenny, penny and threepence denominations had no exact equivalent in the new system, 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Coins issued in 1978 circulated for 14 years before, together with coins of the one cent denomination, they were withdrawn from circulation in February 1992. They have never been demonetised though and remain legal tender. |
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| Obverse | |
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The obverse of the coin shows the crowned and draped young bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (her effigy known as the "Second Portrait", by Arnold Machin).
The Queen wears the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" diamond tiara, a wedding gift from Queen Mary (Her Majesty's grandmother) in 1947 - which she also has on the Rank-Broadley and the Gottwald portraits.
Around, the monarch's legend and the date of issue: ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1978.
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| Reverse | |
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The reverse features a frilled-neck lizard with neck frill extended and mouth open, designed and sculpted by Stuart Devlin.
The denomination numeral 2 [cents] is left of the lizard's head; below its body in (very) tiny letters, the designer's initials SD. |
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| Edge | Plain | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | Krause lists combined circulation mintage of 128,700,000 plus 39,000 proofs. |
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