Currency and national-note dates differ
AUD starts in 1966; federal note legislation dates to 1910 and purpose-printed national notes to 1913.
Oceania · Country guide
Curated
Australia
Australia transformed banknotes from colonial promises into the world’s first complete polymer currency series.
Currency
Australian dollar
AUD
Currency starts
14 February 1966
Paper-money timeline
Before 1910
National / central issue
First purpose-printed note in 1913
Current issuer
Reserve Bank of Australia
The essential story
Start with the chronology, not the current issuer.
Australia’s dollar began in 1966, but its national note story starts with 1910 legislation and the first purpose-printed Commonwealth note in 1913. Earlier colonial and private-bank issues belong to the wider pre-federation history.
The 1988 bicentenary $10 pioneered polymer technology. From 1992 to 1996 Australia became the first country to convert a complete circulating series to polymer.
History in layers
Banknote eras
Dates describe what began in each period—not necessarily when every note stopped circulating.
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Before 1910
Colonial and private-bank notes
Commercial banks and colonial authorities issued a varied paper-money landscape before national control.
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1910–1913
National legislation and superscribed notes
The Australian Notes Act created federal control while existing bank forms bridged the transition.
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1913–1954
Commonwealth pre-decimal series
The first purpose-printed ten-shilling note led into changing Treasury, wartime and Commonwealth Bank designs. The range ends with the 1953–54 series introductions; pre-decimal notes continued until decimalisation in 1966.
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1966–1988
Decimal paper series
Dollars replaced pounds on 14 February 1966. Denominations expanded with $5, $50 and $100 issues.
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1988
Bicentenary polymer trial
The commemorative $10 introduced a transparent window and the polymer substrate that would reshape world banknotes.
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1992–1996
First complete polymer series
Australia became the first country with every circulating denomination produced on polymer.
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2016–2020
Next Generation Banknotes
A full-height clear window and tactile features were rolled out across the complete series.
Collector’s lens
Details worth cataloguing
Serial prefixes carry production data
On issues since 1993, the first two prefix digits indicate the production year.
Record signature order
The order of the Governor and Secretary signatures changed in 2002 and distinguishes otherwise similar notes.
Previous issues remain legal tender
Earlier Australian notes retain legal-tender status; pre-decimal conversion uses £1 = A$2.
Issue catalogue
Series and denominations
The curated history is ready; the full issue checklist has not yet been generated.
Full issue research is the next layer.
The country guide above is already available. Building the checklist runs multiple smaller historical searches, merges them and asks a separate Terra model to audit the chronology.
Primary reading
Official and institutional sources
Curated profile reviewed 2026-07-29.