- Australian 5 cent coin
Infobox Coin
Country = Australia
Denomination = 5 Cent Piece
Value = 0.05
Unit = AUD
Mass = 2.83
Diameter = 19.41
Thickness = 1.30
Edge = milled
Composition = 75%Copper ,
25% Ni
Years of Minting = 1966–present
Catalog Number = -
Obverse = Australian Five Cents Obv.png
Obverse Design = Queen Elizabeth II, Australia's Queen
Obverse Designer =Raphael Maklouf
Obverse Design Date =1984
Reverse = Australian Five Cents Rev.png
Reverse Design = Echidna
Reverse Designer =Stuart Devlin
Reverse Design Date =1966 The Australian 5 cent coin was first minted in 1966 with an initial mintage of 75.42 million, with very few of these still in circulation.The reverse side depicts an
Echidna and the obverse side the head of state, Monarch Elizabeth II.There are no commemorative coins for this denomination. This coin has the highest mintage of any current coins and doesn't circulate well because of its value, like the 1 eurocent. The lowest minted year is 1972 with 8.25 million coins and the highest was 1995 with 194.3 million [ [http://www.ramint.gov.au/about_ram/downloads/ProductionAustDecimalCoins.pdf Mintage figures from the Royal Australian Mint 1966-2005] ] , and the average today is 80 million coins per year. No coins were issued in 1985-86 with the former valued at A$30 uncirculated.
There has been some debate about removing this coin from circulation, like in the
New Zealand dollar mainly as stated for its low value and high costs. But currently no plans are in place to withdraw its circulation.As of
18 May 2007 , owing to the high market value ofcopper andnickel , thebullion value of the coin, is about 6.5 cents. To date there has been no reported cases of hoarding or melting down of the coins despite the apparent 30% gross profit to be made from doing so.References
*cite book | title=Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values | edition= 19th ed. | editor=Ian W. Pitt | publisher=Renniks Publications | location = Chippendale, N.S.W. | year=2000 | id=ISBN 0-9585574-4-6
External links
* [http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-web/aust/decimal.htm Australian Decimal Currency]
* [http://members.optusnet.com.au/~ihartshorn/feature/fa7.htm 2001 Large and Small Obverse 5cent]
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