The Reserve Bank of Australia has offered a significant update on the future of the $5 note, which prominently depicts the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96, Australian coins and the $5 bill will be redesigned to display King Charles III’s image.
Since 1995, a photograph of the late British king at age 58 has appeared on the Australian $5 bill.
A spokesperson for the RBA informed Daily Mail Australia that it would take some time to replace the current $5 bill and that it would not be taken from circulation.
Since the paper currency was updated in 1992, the Queen has appeared on the Australian $5 note, and her face has appeared on following banknotes. The RBA estimates that it could be “many years” before the new currency featuring King Charles III enters circulation.
The official stated, “The reigning monarch has typically appeared on the lowest denomination of Australian banknotes.”
We will plan a redesign of the $5 bill in the near future.
The process of designing new banknotes is intricate.
Depending on public demand and the necessity to replace banknotes that have been worn in circulation, the time between the printing of a banknote and its release into circulation can be several years.
The RBA stated it will provide information on any adjustments in the future.
The Queen is the only monarch whose image has ever appeared on Australia’s decimal currency.
The Royal Australian Mint in Canberra will from 2023 update all of its coins for the first time since the introduction of decimal currency in February 1966.
The changes will effect the five, ten, twenty, and fifty cent coins, the one dollar and two dollar coins, and the five dollar banknote printed in Melbourne by the polymer printing arm of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Note Printing Australia.
Next year, a portrait of King Charles III will appear on the reverse of newly-minted coins, but unlike his predecessor, it will be facing to the left.
Next year, the effigy of King Charles III will appear on the reverse of newly-minted coins, but unlike his predecessor, it will be facing to the left (pictured is a mocked-up version of the 20 cent coin)
The modifications will effect the five, ten, twenty, and fifty cent coins, the one dollar (shown) and two dollar coins, and the five dollar notes printed by the polymer printing arm of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The introduction of King Charles III, 73, will be the first monarchy change on Australian coins since King George VI’s passing in February 1952.
Since the paper denomination was discontinued in 1992, the Queen has been on the $5 polymer currency of Australia.
She replaced the 19th century humanitarian Caroline Chisholm, who was portrayed on the previous paper currency, amid controversy.
Since then, Her Majesty’s image has appeared on subsequent $5 banknotes, with the most recent alteration coming in September 2016.
The Queen appeared on the one and two cent coins from February 1966 until February 1992, when they were withdrawn from circulation.
She has appeared on the $1 coin since May 1984, when it replaced a paper banknote, and on the $2 coin since June 1988, when it replaced a banknote that had been in circulation since 1966.
Australia is one of fourteen countries the Queen ruled as head of state for seventy years, therefore the currency designs of New Zealand, Canada, and Fiji will also be altered.
The Queen has appeared on Australia’s $5 polymer banknote since the paper currency was replaced in 1992, and her portrait has appeared on subsequent banknotes since then, with the most recent change being in September 2016 (a mockup of a $5 note featuring King Charles is depicted above).
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the late husband of the Queen, inaugurated the Royal Australian Mint in the Canberra suburb of Deakin in February 1965, a year before the Australian pound was replaced by decimal currency.
The alteration to feature King Charles will be the first update to Australian coins since the death of King George VI in February 1952
Sir Robert Menzies, the then-long-serving Liberal prime minister, planned to call the new currency “royals,” but it has been known as the Australian dollar since February 1966.
In February 1963, during an old Parliament House reception in Canberra for the Queen, Sir Robert spoke these legendary words: “I only saw her going by, but I will love her till the day I die.”
The loss of Queen Elizabeth II marks the first death of a female monarch since the dying of Queen Victoria on January 22, 1901, only three weeks after the Federation of Australia.
As a fledgling nation, Australia was also prepared to redesign its coinage to honor King Edward VII.