Australian one dollar coin
Production
The Australian one-dollar coin was first issued on 14 May 1984, replacing the one-dollar note, which had a far shorter circulatory life than a coin. Plans for a dollar coin had existed since the mid-1970s, and the changeover finally came with an enormous first-year mintage of 186.3 million coins, all struck at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra. Stuart Devlin's reverse design of five kangaroos - familiarly known as the "mob of roos" - has been the standard design of the denomination ever since.
The coin is struck in aluminium bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminium and 2% nickel), which gives it a distinctive golden colour and good resistance to wear. Its edge carries interrupted milling rather than the continuous reeding of the smaller denominations, a security feature that makes the coin easy to identify by touch and difficult to imitate with other coins. One-dollar coins are legal tender for amounts not exceeding ten times their face value.
The obverse has followed the familiar procession of effigies: Arnold Machin in 1984, Raphael Maklouf from 1985 to 1998, Ian Rank-Broadley from 1999 to 2019 (including the 2016 special obverse with its reproduction of the florin's Coat of Arms), and Jody Clark from 2019. In a piece of numismatic history, the one-dollar coin was the first Australian denomination to bear the Dan Thorne effigy of King Charles III, entering circulation on 1 December 2023.
The denomination's production record is patchwork: in several years no standard mob of roos coins were issued at all because a commemorative design served that year's demand, and in 1987, 1989 to 1992 and 2012 the denomination appeared only in mint and proof sets. The one-dollar coin is also the vehicle for several of the Mint's most successful programs, including the 2019 Dollar Discovery coins and the Donation Dollar initiative of 2020-2021, which encouraged the public to give the coins to charity.
| Value | Mass | Diameter | Edge | Composition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1.00 AUD | 9.00 g | 25.00 mm | Interrupted milled | 92% copper 6% aluminium 2% nickel |
| Obverse | Design | Designer | Design date | |
| File:Australian 1d AM Coin.jpg | Elizabeth II | Arnold Machin | 1984 | |
| File:Australian 1d RM Coin.jpg | Elizabeth II | Raphael Maklouf | 1985-1998 | |
| File:Australian 1d IBR Coin.jpg | Elizabeth II | Ian Rank-Broadley | 1999-2019 | |
| File:Australian 1d IBR50 Coin.jpg | Elizabeth II and Reproduction of the florin Coat of Arms | Ian Rank-Broadley | 2016 | |
| File:Australian 1d JC Coin.jpg | Elizabeth II | Jody Clark | 2019-2022 | |
| File:Australian 1d DT Coin.jpg | Charles III | Dan Thorne | 2023-Present | |
| Reverse | Design | Designer | Design date | |
|
Five Kangaroos (Mob of Roos) | Stuart Devlin | 1984-Present | |
Mintage Figures
The tables below list circulation strikes of the standard mob of roos design. In many years only a commemorative design was issued (see Commemorative Issues below), and the denomination was issued only in mint and proof sets in 1987, 1989 to 1992 and 2012.
| Mintage year | 1984 | 1985 | 1992 | 1994 | 1995 | 1998 | 2000 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mintage (Mil) | 186.3 | 96.2 | 0.008 | 47.6 | 21.4 | 16.2 | 7.6 | 8.8 | 5.8 | 38.9 | 30.1 | 21.2 | 16.7 | 17.9 |
| Mint | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM |
| Mintage year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mintage (Mil) | 20.9 | 1.052 | 22.3 | 30.2 | 0.561 | 11.1 | 8.3 | 10.72 | 2.13 | 6.4 | 0.16 | 6.151 | 6.2094 | 14.757 |
| Mint | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM | RAM |
| RAM = Royal Australian Mint. Standard mob of roos issues only. |
| 1 = 50th Anniversary, 2 = IRB, 3 = JC, 4 = First year of the Charles III obverse |
| Years issued only in commemorative designs: 1986, 1988, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007. The 1992 mintage of 0.008 million (8,000 coins) was issued in mint sets only. |
Commemorative Issues
The one-dollar coin has carried a long program of circulating commemoratives since 1986, and in several years the commemorative issue was the only dollar coin released. The table below lists the principal circulating issues.
| Year | Commemorating | Mintage (Mil) |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | International Year of Peace | 25.2 |
| 1988 | Australian Bicentenary | 21.6 |
| 1993 | Landcare Australia | 18.2 |
| 1996 | Centenary of the birth of Sir Henry Parkes | 26.6 |
| 1997 | Centenary of the birth of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith | 24.4 |
| 1999 | International Year of Older Persons | 29.3 |
| 2001 | Centenary of Federation | 27.9 |
| 2001 | International Year of Volunteers | 6.0 |
| 2002 | Year of the Outback | 35.4 |
| 2003 | Australia's Volunteers | 4.1 |
| 2003 | Centenary of Women's Suffrage | 10.0 |
| 2005 | 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II | 34.2 |
| 2007 | Australia's hosting of APEC | 20.1 |
| 2008 | Centenary of Scouting in Australia | 17.2 |
| 2009 | 100th Year of the Age Pension | 21.3 |
| 2010 | Centenary of Girl Guiding in Australia | 12.6 |
| 2011 | Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) | 9.4 |
| 2014-2018 | Centenary of ANZAC series (five annual coins) | 21.9 (2014) to 1.4-2.19 annually |
| 2016 | 50th Anniversary of decimal currency (special obverse, standard reverse) | 0.56 |
| 2019 | Dollar Discovery - 35 years of the $1 coin (lettered A, U and S) | about 1.5 each |
| 2020 | Centenary of Qantas | 2.0 |
| 2020-2021 | Donation Dollar (standard design with green centre) | 12.5 and 12.9 |
Mint Marks
No one-dollar coin released for circulation has ever carried a mint mark, and every circulation dollar has been struck at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra. A collector coin found with a mint mark or letter will have come from a carded or packaged release, not from circulation.
The closest the denomination came to a circulating letter variety is the 2019 Dollar Discovery program, which marked 35 years of the dollar coin with three versions carrying the letters A, U and S (spelling AUS) beside the mob of roos. Each version was released into circulation in similar quantities, so the three coins were intended to be found, swapped and collected rather than attributed to different mints.
Varieties and Errors
The 2000 $1 / 10c Mule
The most famous error in Australian decimal coinage is the 2000 one-dollar "mule". A small number of 2000 dollar coins were struck using the obverse die of a ten-cent coin - a die meant for a smaller coin - on the standard dollar planchet. The mismatched die produces an unmistakable look: the Queen's portrait and lettering are too small for the coin, leaving a double rim around the obverse. Estimates of the number struck range from a few hundred to six thousand. Circulated examples have sold for $200-$300 and well-preserved examples for several thousand dollars, with the finest known pieces approaching $5,000 or more. The coins entered circulation in Canberra and Perth, and dedicated roll-searchers ("noodlers") have found dozens at a time in unopened bank rolls. Any 2000 dollar coin with a noticeably small portrait deserves close inspection.
Low Mintage Years
Several mob of roos issues are genuinely scarce in comparison with their neighbours. The 1992 coins were issued in mint sets only (8,000 coins), the 2014 issue saw just 1.052 million circulation strikes because the ANZAC commemorative dominated that year's production, and the 2021 issue is the modern key date with a mintage of just 0.16 million coins. The 2005 (5.8 million) and 2000 (7.6 million) issues are also among the scarcer circulation dollars.
