5 Cent Piece

Value	0.05 AUD
Mass	2.83 g
Diameter	19.41 mm
Thickness	1.30 mm
Edge	Reeded
Composition	75%Copper, 25% Ni
Years of minting	1966–present
Catalog number	-
Obverse
Design	Queen Elizabeth II, Australia's Queen
Designer	Raphael Maklouf
Design date	1984
Reverse
Design	Echidna
Designer	Stuart Devlin
Design date	1966

The Australian 5 cent coin was first minted in 1966 with an initial mintage of 75.427 million, with very few of these still in circulation.

The reverse side depicts an Echidna and the obverse side the head of state, Monarch Elizabeth II.

There are no commemorative coins for this denomination. This coin has the highest mintage of any current coins and doesn't circulate well because of its value, like the 1 eurocent. The lowest minted year is 1972 with 8.25 million coins and the highest was 2005 with 194.3 million ^[1], and the average today is 80 million coins per year. No coins were issued in 1985-86 with the former valued at A$30 uncirculated.

There has been some debate about removing this coin from circulation, like in the New Zealand dollar mainly as stated for its low value and high costs, and on May 23 2009, Fairfax newspapers reported that the Royal Australian Mint planned to scrap the coin.^[2]

In May 2007, owing to the high market value of copper and nickel, the bullion value of the coin was about 6.5 cents, though there were no reported cases of hoarding or melting down of the coins despite the apparent 30% gross profit to be made from doing so. Market prices at October 2008 were about $7/kg for copper and $17/kg for nickel - making the metal content of the 5c coin worth only 2.7c or 54% of its face value (the same as for a 10c or 20c coin). Base-metal prices have dropped further since.

[edit] References

1. ^ Mintage figures from the Royal Australian Mint 1966-2005
2. ^ "Get your 5c worth before it goes out of circulation". Sydney Morning Herald. May 23, 2009. http://www.smh.com.au/national/get-your-5c-worth-before-it-goes-out-of-circulation-20090523-bihk.html. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 

[edit] External links

• Australian Decimal Currency
• 2001 Large and Small Obverse 5cent

Preceded by Sixpence (Australian)

Five Cents (Australian) 1966–present

Succeeded by Present

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