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The Royal Australian Mint has confirmed it will begin minting coins with the effigy of King Charles III next year.
Key points:
- Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Australian coins will soon start to bear the new monarch's face
- Coins will come into circulation with King Charles III's effigy from 2023
- All earlier coins will still remain accepted as legal tender
According to a regulation of the 1965 Currency Act, the face of Queen Elizabeth II must be on all Australian coins.
The effigy of Queen Elizabeth II has been on the coins since 1953, after her father King George VI's death in 1952.
Assistant Minister for Treasury Andrew Leigh said a new effigy would be produced of King Charles III, and Australians should expect to see the face of King Charles on their coins "sometime in 2023".
Mr Leigh noted the long history of the Queen's face on Australian coins:
"Since 1966, when decimal currency was introduced, over 15 billion coins have been produced bearing the face of Queen Elizabeth II," he said.
"Queen Elizabeth II first appeared on Australians coins when those coins were pence and shillings," he added.
He also reassured Australians that all coins with the face of Queen Elizabeth would remain in circulation and be accepted as legal tender.
But Mr Leigh noted that there would be another visible change in addition to a new effigy.
"There's a protocol of switching the direction of the effigy faces," he said.
"So if you look at the back of the coin, you'll see Queen Elizabeth II face to the right, King Charles III will then face to the left."
Royal Australian Mint CEO Leigh Gordon said minting would begin as soon as an effigy, endorsed by Buckingham Palace, had been received and tested.
He also said that the mint temporarily paused the minting of coins on September 9, when the Queen's death was announced, and had only resumed normal operations this morning.
King Charles III may not appear on the $5 note
Queen Elizabeth II also appears on the Australian $5 note.
After her death was announced on Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia said the note would not immediately change and would also remain in circulation as legal tender.
However, the bank said it would provide further updates on the note in due course.
When asked about changes to the $5 note, Mr Leigh said there would be a conversation about having a First Nations Australian, like Vincent Lingiari, on the note instead of the new King.
"It is a conversation that will take place in government. There's no rush about it, the priority now is changing over the coins," he said.
"As I understand the decision to include the Queen's face on the $5 note was about her personally, rather than about her status as a monarch.
"So that transition isn't automatic and we'll have a sensible discussion within parliament and make an announcement in due course."
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