The cent, formally the one-cent coin, was the lowest-denomination coin of the

Australian dollar The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Isl ...

. It was introduced on 14 February 1966 in the decimalisation of Australian currency and was withdrawn from circulation in 1992 (along with the two-cent coin). It is still minted as a non-circulating coin. One-cent and two-cent coins are legal tender only up to the sum of 20 cents (preventing large debts from being paid in small coins).

Description

From 1966 until 1984 the obverse featured the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by

Arnold Machin Arnold Machin OBE, R.A., FRSS (; 30 September 1911 – 9 March 1999) was a British artist, sculptor, and coin and postage stamp designer. Life Machin was born Stoke-on-Trent in 1911. He started work at the age of 14 as an apprentice china pa ...

. It was changed in 1985 to a version by

Raphael Maklouf Raphael David Maklouf (born 10 December 1937) is a British sculptor, best known for designing an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II used on the coins of many Commonwealth nations. Maklouf was born in Jerusalem, to a Jewish family; his father was S ...

, which remained until its withdrawal from circulation in 1992. The reverse side of the coin features the image of a

feathertail glider The feathertail glider (''Acrobates pygmaeus''), also known as the pygmy gliding possum, pygmy glider, pygmy phalanger, flying phalanger and flying mouse, is a species of marsupial native to eastern Australia. It is the world's smallest gliding ...

(''Acrobates pygmaeus''), a gliding possum unique to Australian states bordering the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The image was designed by

Stuart Devlin Stuart Leslie Devlin (9 October 1931 – 12 April 2018) was an Australian artist and metalworker who specialised in gold and silver. He designed coins for countries around the world, and became especially well known as London-based design ...

, who designed the reverses of all of the original Australian decimal coins.

Production

The first issue (1966) was produced by three mints: 146.5 million were minted at the

Royal Australian Mint The Royal Australian Mint is the sole producer of all of Australia's circulating coins and is a Commonwealth Government entity operating within the portfolio of the Treasury. The Mint is situated in the Australian federal capital city of Canberr ...

in Canberra, with 239 million at the

Melbourne Mint The Melbourne Mint, in Melbourne, Australia, was a branch of the British Royal Mint. It minted gold sovereigns from 1872 until 1931, and half-sovereigns (intermittently) from 1873 until 1915. In 1916 it commenced minting Commonwealth silver ...

and 26.6 million at the

Perth Mint The Perth Mint is Australia's official bullion mint and wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia. Established on 20 June 1899, two years before Australia's Federation in 1901, the Perth Mint was the last of three Australian col ...

. With the exception of 1966 and 1981, all other one-cent coins have been produced at the Canberra mint. In 1981, 40.3 million were struck at the British Royal Mint in Llantrisant,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, as well as 183.6 million in Canberra. The only year when it was not minted during its years in general circulation was 1986. It was last minted in 1990. The decision to remove the one and two-cent coins was confirmed by the Treasurer in a Budget Speech on 21 August 1990. The action was due to

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

reducing its value, and the high cost of bronze. Around the same time other countries removed their bronze coins—New Zealand removed its one and two cent coins in 1990, while the United Kingdom and Ireland changed their bronze one and two pence coins into copper-plated steel. The one cent coin was produced as proof and uncirculated coins in 1986, 1991, 2006 and 2010 as part of mint sets. Other compositions were also used for 1 cent coins such as the 1978 (incorrectly listed as 1968 at Downies) specimen struck in aluminium or fine silver proofs in 1991, 2006 and 2011. After removal from circulation, the coins were melted down to make bronze medals for the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. In 2017, a limited edition ''

Possum Magic ''Possum Magic'' is a 1983 Children's picture book by Australian author Mem Fox, and illustrated by Julie Vivas. It concerns a young female possum, named Hush, who becomes invisible and has a number of adventures. In 2001, a film was made by th ...

'' themed coin set was released. A one-cent coin is included that shows Hush the Possum reading a book. In 2019, a limited edition Mr Squiggle friends themed coin set was released. A one-cent coin is included that shows Mr Squiggle.

References

* One-cent coins Decimal coins of Australia {{coin-stub