Description
The Australian dollar is the official currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island. The currency is officially used in the independent Pacific Island states Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. The official currency symbol: $, A$, AU$.
The Australian dollar was established in 1966 to replace the Australian pound. In 1959, Treasurer Harold Holt appointed a Decimal Currency Committee to discuss the implementation of decimalization. The committee achieved approval in 1960, and the decimalization process was scheduled for February 1966. Holt announced that the new currency would bear the name “real.” The news was met with great public disgust, and three months later, it was declared that it would be renamed “dollar.” The first Australian dollar banknotes were introduced in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100.
The Australian government has been introduced four polymer banknote series; the first polymer series was issued in 1988, in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. The second series of polymer banknotes was announced in 2012, which contained several new enhanced security measures. In 1995, the Reserve Bank of Australia identified problems with the holographic security features on banknotes, which led to the announcement of the third one series, which was established between 1995 and 1996. The four and last series were announced in 2015 when the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a new redesigned polymer banknotes series which was introduced from 2015 to 2020.
The 5 Australian dollars note front design features the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other commonwealth realms), followed by a Scribbly Gum eucalyptus leaves, the National Coat of Arms, a seven-pointed star seal, and a sketch of a gum flower within a window.
The reverse of the note illustrates a landscape plan for the New Parliament House, the old (1927) and new (1988) Australian Parliament House, and architectural patterns of the entrance to the ministerial wing of the New Parliament House and the skylights for the Members’ Hall and the Main Committee Room. This note is part of the 1995 – 2015 series, and its color is black, red, and bright purple.
Text: Australia Five Dollars This Australian Note is Legal tender throughout Australia and its Territories, Australia.