Australian 1966 Uncirculated Mint Set
The Set
The 1966 mint set holds a unique place in Australian numismatics: it was the first uncirculated set the Royal Australian Mint ever issued, released to mark the changeover to decimal currency on 14 February 1966. It contained one example of each of the six new coins, from the 1 cent to the round 50 cent, with a combined face value of 88 cents. Uniquely among Australian year sets, the 1966 issue appeared in five different packagings - a carded set, two wallet issues and two small presentation issues - and their mintages together account for the official figure of 105,909 sets. No sets at all were issued for 1967 or 1968, and from 1969 the series settled into a single annual packaging.
The Carded Set
The version most often encountered is the carded set: the six coins sealed in plastic within a blue and white cardboard holder, initially available only to visitors to the newly opened Royal Australian Mint in Canberra and priced at just $1.00 - a markup of only 12 cents over the face value of the coins. A total of 77,250 carded sets were issued during 1966 and into early 1967.
Shortages of Australian-struck cupro-nickel coins meant that 67,250 of the carded sets contain 5, 10 and 20 cent coins struck by the Royal Mint in London, which had been producing Australian decimal coinage since 1965. Only the final 10,000 sets carry Canberra-struck cupro-nickel coins. The two varieties are told apart by their mint marks, explained on the twenty cent page, and sets containing the Canberra-struck coins command a premium among collectors.
The Wallet Sets
Two wallet issues followed the carded set. A dark blue vinyl wallet housed 15,809 sets, and the Reserve Bank of Australia issued a further 12,260 sets across four wallet colours - red, blue, green and black - each carrying the wording "AUSTRALIAN Decimal Currency FIRST ISSUE 1966" above a map of Australia, at a price of $1.50. Both wallet issues are markedly scarcer than the carded set today, and the four Reserve Bank colours give collectors a set-building challenge in their own right.
Presentation Wallets
Two small presentation issues complete the picture, neither of them sold to the public. Some 520 sets were struck for a VIP presentation wallet given to dignitaries involved in the changeover. Rarest of all are the 70 sets issued in green wallets inscribed "Operation Fastbuck" - the codename for the logistics exercise that moved Australia's first decimal currency from the Mint to banks across the country. The Fastbuck wallets were presented to the drivers who carried out the deliveries, and surviving examples are among the most keenly sought of all Australian decimal sets.
| Variety | Packaging | Mintage |
|---|---|---|
| Carded set | Blue and white cardboard holder, $1.00 | 77,250 |
| Dark blue wallet | Dark blue vinyl wallet | 15,809 |
| Reserve Bank wallets | Red, blue, green and black vinyl wallets, $1.50 | 12,260 |
| VIP presentation wallet | Presentation wallet | 520 |
| Operation Fastbuck wallet | Green vinyl wallet | 70 |
| Total | 105,909 |
The Coins
Every coin in the set carries the Arnold Machin obverse of Queen Elizabeth II in its first year of use on Australian decimal coins. The reverses are Stuart Devlin's original 1966 designs: the feathertail glider on the 1 cent, the frill-necked lizard on the 2 cent, the echidna on the 5 cent, the lyrebird on the 10 cent and the platypus on the 20 cent, while the round 50 cent carries the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and is struck in 80% silver - the only year the denomination took that form. For type collectors the set preserves first-year examples of all six designs in mint condition, and the sharpness and lustre of well-preserved examples set the standard by which the later sets are judged.
| File:Australian UNC Set 1966 card packaging.jpg | File:Australian UNC Set 1966 card coins.jpg | The carded set: coins sealed in plastic within the blue and white cardboard holder. Mintage 77,250. |
| File:Australian UNC Set 1966 wallet packaging.jpg | File:Australian UNC Set 1966 wallet coins.jpg | The dark blue vinyl wallet issue. Mintage 15,809. |
| File:Australian UNC Set 1966 RBA packaging.jpg | File:Australian UNC Set 1966 RBA coins.jpg | A Reserve Bank wallet, inscribed "First Issue 1966" with a map of Australia. Combined mintage 12,260 across four colours. |
| File:Australian UNC Set 1966 VIP packaging.jpg | File:Australian UNC Set 1966 VIP coins.jpg | The VIP presentation wallet. Just 520 sets, presented to dignitaries involved in the changeover. |
| File:Australian UNC Set 1966 Fastbuck packaging.jpg | File:Australian UNC Set 1966 Fastbuck coins.jpg | The Operation Fastbuck wallet, rarest of the five - just 70 green wallets, presented to the drivers who delivered Australia's first decimal currency. |
