Summary

Australia
Two Cent coin 1966
Mint: Royal Australian Mint, Canberra

Physical Description

An round bronze coin (22 mm diameter) featuring on the obverse a crowned head of Elizabeth II facing right, around, ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1966. The reverse features a frilled lizard with neck frill extended and mouth open; the denomination numeral 2 is left of the lizard's head and the artist's initials SD below it's body.

Obverse Description

Diademed bust of Elizabeth II right; around, ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1966

Reverse Description

Frilled necked dragon lizard right; at left large 2

Edge Description

Plain

Significance

Decimal coinage was introduced to Australia on 14 February 1966. The new denominations of one and two cent coins were to replace the halfpenny, penny and threepence denominations which had no exact equivalent in the new system (the sixpence shilling and florin were exactly the same as the five, ten and twenty cent coins). To be prepared for C-day the Canberra mint struck 145,226,000 two cent coins; Perth branch of the Royal Mint struck 108 million 1966 two cent coins in 1965 and a further 109,735,000 in 1966. They coins bore no specific mint mark, but products of the Perth mint can be identified by the shape of the lizard's claw immediately to the right of the artist's initials SD - on Perth mint products this claw is blunt while on those of Canberra and Melbourne it is sharp.

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