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 Replies: 14 / Views: 3,327 |
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Moderator
 United States
23525 Posts |
Quote:
Australia's 50 cent coin 'likely to undergo redesign'
By Georgia Hitch
Updated about 9 hours ago
A survey by the Mint shows many vending machines no longer accept the 50 cent coin
PHOTO: A survey by the Mint showed many vending machines no longer accepted the 50 cent coin. (ABC News: Nic MacBean)
The 50 cent coin could be set for a makeover 50 years after it was first introduced.
Chief executive of the Royal Australian Mint Ross MacDiarmid tipped that there was likely to be a review of the coin's design within the next year.
Mr MacDiarmid said one of the major issues with the 12-sided piece was its size.
He said a recent survey carried out by the Mint showed that many vending machine operators found the coins a nuisance, to the point that some machines no longer accept 50 cent pieces.
"I think what people really like, and the survey work we've done has shown this, is the angular shape of it but they recognise it's way too big," Mr MacDiarmid said.
When decimal currency was introduced in Australia in February 1966 all coins, including the 50 cent piece, were round.
The coin stayed that way for three years until it was redesigned to be angular to help prevent people confusing it with the 20 cent piece.
Mr MacDiarmid said a return to a circular 50 cent coin was unlikely, dismissing the idea as "done and dusted".
To celebrate the 50-year anniversary of decimal currency the Mint is printing a round and gold plated 50 cent piece that will only be available at the open day in Canberra on Saturday. rggoodie
aka Richard
"catch em doing something right"
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Valued Member
Australia
95 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
I rather like the 50c as it is and it will be an absolute shame if they get rid of it or change the shape and size of it. What will they come up with next, crappy steel coins or worse still plated zinc garbage   |
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Valued Member
Australia
248 Posts |
If they do that, I'll spend the next year looking for one with an incuse flag. I have to find one before they withdraw them!  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
762 Posts |
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I rather like the 50c as it is and it will be an absolute shame if they get rid of it or change the shape and size of it. I'm sure this wont be the last we see of the regular 50c. After all it has been 25 years since they discontinued the 1c and 2c but they still make regular appearances in RAM issues. From a purely practical point of view the 50c was too big so this change is long overdue. From a collectors point of view this will be the first new coin since 1988 when the $2 was introduced. Reading between the lines it would seem that it will be smaller but still have an irregular shape. |
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Valued Member
Australia
248 Posts |
My biggest concern with changing the size of the 50c piece is that we'll lose a lot of commemorative coins from circulation.
I still remember receiving a lot of commemorative 50c coins from my parents when I was a kid, and then searching through their change to find others, so it will be a real shame if today's kids are no longer able to do that, and have to buy them all from collectors.
No kid's going to spend $100 buying a set of commemorative 50c coins when they could spend it all on toys, so although I welcome the decision to make the 50c coin smaller, I think it's bad for the coin collecting community as a whole, because it will discourage young people from entering the community.
A lot of kids will collect a coin with James Cook or the First Fleet on it if they receive it from the local shops, but how many kids will collect a coin with the International Year of Older Persons, the Centenary of Women's Suffrage, or the Centenary of the Aged Pension on it?
With a few exceptions, the commemorative 50c coins have always been much more appealing to young people than the commemorative $1 coins, so we are doing ourselves a disservice if we allow them to be removed from circulation.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
560 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
992 Posts |
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Well change happens. ...and in this case, it's overdue. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Should be smaller, 9 curve sided, much like the British 7 sided 50 P.
Can still be copper nickel.
The radius of each side, centered on the opposite point, is the 'diameter' of the coin.
Can only be done with a coin, with an odd number of curved sides.
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
992 Posts |
Quote:
The radius of each side, centered on the opposite point, is the 'diameter' of the coin.
Can only be done with a coin, with an odd number of curved sides. Therefore, the Canadian Loonie ($1 coin) has 11.  |
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Valued Member
Australia
185 Posts |
re Quote 2.12.2016
Australian 50c coin " likely to undergo redesign "
Georgia Hitch
If the last paragraph of this article where Mr. MacDiarmid stated that " to celebrate the 50th anniversary ( of the introduction ) of decimal currency, the RAM is PRINTING a round and Gold plated 50c piece..." I MUST get one or two of these PRINTED round 50c pieces....
The main reason for the need to change the size 50c is because the total cost of all production inputs is now very close to 50c per coin.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
560 Posts |
Same size as the NZ coin then we can still do commemoratives with a nice readable design.
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Valued Member
Australia
193 Posts |
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The main reason for the need to change the size 50c is because the total cost of all production inputs is now very close to 50c per coin. I don't know what the total cost of production is, but I assume production costs would apply to all the coins as it is just an assembly line process. As for the metal cost of 50 cent coins they are they same 75/25 CuNi alloy used for all our 'silver coins', that would have a melt value at todays wholesale prices of approximatelly 12.3 cents per 50c coin for the metal alone, excluding labour and production costs. The RAM memo did not mention they were too expensive, rather it said they are unpopular with vending machine makers. I agree they are big unwieldy coins with little value for their size. I have in the past expressed some dissatisfaction with Australia's coinage, considering it an antiquated relic of the mid 20thC, whose proportions reflected the buying power of the currency at that time, but which has long since past. In the early 70's you could buy a piece of grilled fish with a 20 cent piece. Today its only use is just as a piece of change. In the mid 60's the first fifty cents were thought so valuable they made them in silver (80%) for a while, but that thinking was quickly overtaken by inflation which laughed at that pre-war nostalgia. Some countries experience of the decreasing buying power of coins, sees a complete abandonment of coins altogether. While Australia is not yet at this point, the diminishing utility of minted coins compared with what they can buy, is part of a long term trend. The big bold new 50 cent of 1969 is today not too costly to make, rather it is symbolically too large for its meagre exchange in the market place. I think this is the reason they want to change it. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
I believe during the peak of base metal price where copper and nickel prices were at sky rocket prices, it was actually the 5, 10 and 20 cent coins that were of serious concern as they were literally backed by the melt value alone. This was around 2006 where New Zealand was forced to change over to smaller coinage as the melt value of the coins were higher than face value.
The 50 cents coins would have been actually more profitable to strike not including transportation cost. Of course, production cost of the lower denomination coins were subsidized by the dollar coins.
While it might be sad, I still find the 50 cents coin way too big to handle despite using them for so many years.
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Valued Member
Australia
248 Posts |
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While it might be sad, I still find the 50 cents coin way too big to handle despite using them for so many years. What we need is for the mint to re-release all the commemorative 50c coins from the last 50 years on smaller planchets, bearing the original dates. Then, I would support such a change, because I can barely fit them into my wallet! |
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Replies: 14 / Views: 3,327 |
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Posted 02/12/2016 11:31 am
