Fifty cents
Australia
Value0.50 AUD
Mass15.55 g
Diameter31.65 (across flats[1]) mm
Thickness2.80 mm (maximum)[2]
EdgePlain
ShapeDodecagonal
Composition75% copper, 25% nickel
Years of minting1969–present
Catalog number—
Obverse
DesignElizabeth II,
Queen of Australia
DesignerIan Rank-Broadley
Design date1999
Reverse
DesignAustralian coat of arms
DesignerStuart Devlin
Design date1965

The twelve-sided Australian fifty-cent coin is the third-highest denomination coin of the Australian dollar and the largest in terms of size in circulation. It is equal in size and shape to the Cook Island $5 coin, and both remain the only 12-sided coins in the southern hemisphere. It was introduced in 1969[3] to replace the round fifty-cent coin issued in 1966.

The original, round, 50-cent coin was made of 80% silver and 20% copper; but as the value of a free-floating silver price became higher, the coin's bullion value became more valuable than its face value; so that version was withdrawn from circulation and replaced with the dodecagonal cupro-nickel version.

It is by diameter the largest Australian coin currently issued and second largest after the Crown of 1937–38. It is also the heaviest Australian coin in common circulation. Many commemorative designs have been issued, the large size allowing for detailed content.

With a diameter of 31.65 millimetres (1.246 in) across flats,[1] the 50-cent coin is one of the largest in volume among those currently circulating in the world. Coins of larger diameter include the Costa Rican five-hundred-colón and the old[4] fifty-franc (CFP), both 32.9 millimetres (1.30 in).

The 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, year dated 50¢ are only available in mint and proof sets, with the exception of the 1967 and 1968, as no mint/proof sets exist for those years and there were no circulation strikes produced either.

Fifty-cent coins are legal tender for amounts not exceeding $5 for any payment of a debt.[5]

Obverse

As with all coins of Australia, the reigning monarch features on the obverse. Only Elizabeth II has been featured on the coin so far.

Unlike other decimal denominations, five different portraits of the queen have been used on 50-cent coins. A unique effigy by Vladimir Gottwald was used for the 2000 royal visit commemorative fifty-cent piece.[6] This is the only Australian decimal coin to have an obverse designed by an Australian[7] and to have a portrait of the queen which is not also used on British currency.

The other four portraits have featured on all then-current denominations: from 1966 to 1984 one by Arnold Machin,[8] from 1985 to 1998 one by Raphael Maklouf,[9] from 1999 to 2019 a portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley,[10] and since 2019 a portrait by Jody Clark. These portraits were introduced to British coins in 1968, 1985, 1998 and 2015, respectively.[11]

Commemorative coins

The Australian fifty-cent coin was the first to display a variation of the reverse design in 1970 for the commemorating the bicentennial of Lieutenant James Cook's landing in Australia. Various other designs followed until the one-dollar and twenty-cent coins also included new designs.

YearSubjectMintage
1970Bicentenary of James Cook's 1770 voyage16,500,000
197725th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II25,000,000
1981Marriage of HRH the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer20,000,000
1982Brisbane XII Commonwealth Games49,600,000
1988Australian Bicentenary9,000,000
199125th anniversary of decimal currency4,700,000
1994United Nations International Year of the Family21,300,000
199550th anniversary of the end of World War II – Edward 'Weary' Dunlop15,900,000
1998200th anniversary of the voyage of Bass and Flinders22,400,000
2000Millennium year16,600,000
Visit of Queen Elizabeth II5,100,000
2001Centenary of Federation43,100,000
Centenary of Federation – ACT2,000,000
Centenary of Federation – NSW3,000,000
Centenary of Federation – Norfolk Island2,200,000
Centenary of Federation – NT2,100,000
Centenary of Federation – QLD2,300,000
Centenary of Federation – SA2,400,000
Centenary of Federation – Tasmania2,200,000
Centenary of Federation – Victoria2,800,000
Centenary of Federation – WA2,400,000
2002Year of the Outback11,500,000
2003Australia's Volunteers13,900,000
2004Primary school design competition winner (John Serrano)10,200,000
200560th anniversary of the end of World War II26,600,000
Secondary school Commonwealth Games design competition winner (Kelly Just)20,500,000
2010Australia Day11,400,000
201450th anniversary of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies3,000,000
201650th anniversary of decimal currency7,000,000
201750th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum / 25th anniversary of the Mabo Decision1,400,000
2019International Year of Indigenous Languages2,000,000
Reference:[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Fifty Cents, Royal Australian Mint. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "Currency (Royal Australian Mint) Determination 2005 (No. 4)".
  3. ↑ "Australian Coin Collecting Blog - The Complete Guide to Australian 50 Cent Coins". 4 November 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. ↑ "A compter du 1er septembre 2021, de nouvelles pièces en Franc Pacifique". Institut d’Émission d’Outre-Mer (IEOM). 22 September 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "RBA Banknotes: Legal Tender". banknotes.rba.gov.au. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "Gottwald (2000) - Royal Australian Mint". 8 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Gottwald (2000) - Royal Australian Mint". 8 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "Machin (1966-1984) - Royal Australian Mint". 8 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "Maklouf (1985-1998) - Royal Australian Mint". 8 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Rank-Broadley (1999-present) - Royal Australian Mint". 8 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  11. ↑ "The five portraits of Her Majesty The Queen". The Royal Mint. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Fifty Cents". Royal Australian Mint. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
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