Australian Dollar (AUD) History

Pence, pounds, and shillings were scheduled to be replaced by decimal forms of currency in the 1960s, which led to many suggestions for new names for the new currency. Robert Menzies was the prime minister of Australia in 1965, as well as a monarchist, which led him to wanting to call the new currency the royal. There were other names proposed that had more exotic leanings, such as the boomer, the oz, the roo, the austral, the emu, the kanga, the kwid, the dinkum, the digger, and the ming, which was Menzies' nickname. Due to the influence of Menzie, the government decided to go with the royal, and the Reserve Bank of Australia prepared and printed trial designs of the new currency. However, the name chosen for the currency was not very popular among the people, and as a result, it was eventually dropped and replaced with the dollar.

The Australian pound was introduced in 1910 and was classified as a distinct currency value from 1931 onward when it was devalued in comparison to the pound sterling. It was eventually replaced on February 14th, 1966, by the dollar. The conversion rate for the novel currency at the decimal level was one Australian pound for two dollars, or one dollar for ten Australian shillings. The government proposed an exchange rate that would be related to the pound sterling so 8 shillings would be equivalent to 1 dollar, and $2.50 equivalent to 1 pound sterling. However, in 1967, Australia moved away from the Sterling Area because the pound sterling lost its value in comparison to the United States dollar while the Australian dollar maintained its value. At that time, it continued to be worth slightly less than a United States dollar, with 1 Australian dollar being equivalent to 1.12 United States dollars.

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