• The very first dates of Australia’s decimal currency system.
• Includes the 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c & unique Silver Round 50c.
• Offered in strictly Uncirculated condition, and scarce as such.
• Beautifully presented within an illustrated, informative pack.
• A sensational birthday present for anyone born in 1966!

Symbolising the greatest change in Australia’s monetary history – the changeover to decimal currency in February 1966 – Downies is proud to present the 1966 Uncirculated 6-Coin Year Set!

Although decimalisation had been contemplated since Federation in 1901, the issue was only seriously addressed in the 1950s. Promises to modify the predecimal system were made during the 1958 election campaign, and in 1963, Treasurer Harold Holt announced that Australia would change over to decimal currency.

Designed by numismatic master craftsman Stuart Devlin, the first decimal coin issue comprised the 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c and 20c, united with the alleged ‘glamour’ coin of the changeover, the Silver Round 50c. Australia’s only circulating precious metal decimal coin, and only round 50c, the 1966 Silver 50c was a coin of much controversy.

Struck from 80% fine silver, soaring metal prices ensured the demise of the 1966 50c. Hoarded away, or sentenced to the melting pot, with the intrinsic value outstripping the face value, this coin simply vanished from circulation. The next 50c, unveiled in 1969 after a lengthy period of debate, was neither silver nor round, rendering the 1966 50c a unique, one-year-only type.

The first dates of the Australian decimal coinage series, enshrining Australia’s beloved native animals in official legal tender, the 1966 Uncirculated 6-Coin Year Set forms a permanent record of a crucial juncture in Australian history. Importantly, with so many decades having passed since issue, all six coins are scarce in the strictly Uncirculated quality seen here.