Coin, Great Britain, Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Penny, 1860, copper alloy (CI).
The Years of Expansion: Regal Coinage Used in New South Wales
In 1816, following the close of the Napoleonic Wars, a great recoinage was undertaken by the British Government; and it became possible to export some of this new coinage, together with much of the old coinage which it replaced, to the various Colonies.
In New South Wales, Governor Darling briefly explored the possibility of a local coinage based upon the Spanish Dollar and its fractions. By 1829 however, the improved flow of English specie was such that expedients such as this were no longer necessary; and foreign coins in circulation were steadily displaced by regal coinage.
There were to be shortages of small change in the future, which would be met by the initiative of local traders; but even this problem was finally overcome by the great recoinage of 1860 which introduced a lightweight bronze coinage.
It was not until 1910 that the first coins of the Commonwealth of Australia were issued, and over a period of some 20 years, gradually displaced the English coins which had circulated throughout Australia for nearly 100 years.
- From Sydney Mint Museum label written by curator, Major HP (Pat) Boland, c1982