Design for new King Charles coins expected by May

The effigy of Queen Elizabeth II has been on Australian coins since 1953 following the death of her father King George VI in 1952. Now with Queen Elizabeth’s passing in September 2022, the Royal Australian Mint confirmed they will be minting coins with her son, King Charles III’s effigy this year.

This will be the first time Australian currency will not depict Queen Elizabeth II’s effigy, first appearing on Australian coins back when shillings and pence were used as legal tender in the country.

Since 1966, there have been approximately 15 billion coins printed with the Queen’s likeness, according to Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh.

Minister Leigh stated the hope is to be able to unveil the new image for the coins around the time of King Charles’ coronation in May 2023, with production commencing shortly after.

Coins depicting Queen Elizabeth will not be phased out of circulation and will remain as legal tender. However, coins depicting the reign and life of Queen Elizabeth will enter circulation in the first half of the year.

The move towards a cashless society

According to Minister Leigh, demand for circulating coins has dropped, resulting in collectable coins increasing in demand.

“There’s been a strong move away from cash as people are choosing to tap and pay for things that we always used to do before with notes and coins.

“So charitable donations are much more typically done by tap and go, or pay online, all sorts of vendors are accepting tap-and-go payments.

“Credit card or debit card usage is at an all‑time high. So, we are increasingly becoming a cashless society,” Mr Leigh stated.

Westpac Group announced the closure of 20 branches under Westpac, Bank of Melbourne and St. George brands in July last year, which according to a Westpac group spokesperson came amid “a significant shift toward digital and cashless banking, and declining foot traffic in bank branches”.

Other major banks followed suit, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and NAB, announcing that they would be closing several branches, with CBA set to close five branches, and NAB closing eight.

In total, 37 branches were set to close over the second half of 2022, including Westpac branches and its subsidiaries.

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