Australian twenty-cent coin Australian twenty-cent coin The Australian twenty-cent coin of the Australian decimal currency system was issued with conversion to decimal currency on 14 February 1966, replacing the florin which was worth two shillings – a tenth of a pound. (The Australian pound was converted to two Australian dollars.) To date, three different obverse face designs have been used: from 1966 to 1984, the head of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin; from 1985 to 1998, the head by Raphael Maklouf; and since 1999, the head by Ian Rank-Broadley. The obverse has the inscription AUSTRALIA and the year-of-issue on the right hand
Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin) on the obverse. The inscription around the bust read . This was replaced in 1895 by the ‘old head’, or ‘veiled bust’. The inscription on these coins read . Coins issued during the reign of Edward VII feature his likeness and bear the inscription . Similarly, those issued during the reign of George V feature his likeness and bear the inscription . A halfpenny of King Edward VIII (1936) does exist, dated 1937, but technically it is a pattern coin i.e. one produced for official approval which it would probably have been due to receive about the time that the