50 cent coin

50c Coin

Dimensions	Mass	Front	Back	Date of issue
31.51 mm	15.55 g	Queen Elizabeth II	Australian coat of arms	1969 to present

The twelve-sided Australian fifty-cent piece is the third-largest denomination of the Australian dollar and the largest under a dollar. It was introduced in 1969 to replace the round 50 cents coin introduced in 1966.

It is by diameter the largest Australian coin currently issued and second largest after the Crown of 1937–38. Originally the coin was made of 80% silver and 20% copper (round fifty cents), but as the value of a free-floating silver price became higher, the coins' bullion value became more valuable than their face value and so were withdrawn from circulation. Many commemorative coins have been issued due to their large size allowing for a better image with more content.

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Designer

Arnold Machin (1969)

Raphael Maklouf (1985)

Ian Rank-Broadley (1999)

Designer

Stuart Devlin (1966)

	1970: Commemorating the bicentenary of James Cook's 1770 voyage. Based on a painting by John Webber. The inclusion of Cook's signature was thought to be the first use of a facsimile signature on a coin. Designed by Stuart Devlin.
	1977: Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II. Based on a central wattle blossom symbol of Australia surrounded by 25 overlapping crowns. Designed by Stuart Devlin.
	1981: Commemorating the marriage of HRH the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. Designed by Stuart Devlin.
	1982: Commemorating the Brisbane XII Commonwealth Games. Incorporates the Games symbol designed by Hugh Edwards to reflect the form of a kangaroo in full flight. Designed by Stuart Devlin.
	1988: Commemorating the Australian Bicentenary. Designed by Michael MacLellan Tracey.
	1991: Celebrating the 25th anniversary of decimal currency. The original image of the stud ram Uardry 0.1 by George Edward Kruger Grey used on the shilling from 1937 to 1964 was reworked by Horst Hahne.
	1994: Celebrating the United Nations International Year of the Family. Designed by Carolyn Rosser.
	1995: Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Designed by Louis Laumen and Horst Hahne, sculpted by Horst Hahne.
	1998: Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the voyage of Bass and Flinders. Designed by Vladimir Gottwald.
	2000: Millenium Year Designed and sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald
	2000: Commemorating the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. Designed and sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the 1912 Commonwealth Coat of Arms granted by King George V.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the Coat of Arms of Canberra, granted by King George V in 1928. Designed by CR Wylie
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the NSW Coat of Arms, granted by King Edward VII in 1906. Designed by William Applegate Gullick.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the Northern Territory Coat of Arms, granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1978.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the Queensland Coat of Arms, the oldest in Australia, granted by Queen Victoria in 1893.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the South Australian Coat of Arms, granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984 replacing the original granted in 1936.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the Tasmanian Coat of Arms, granted by King George V in 1917.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the Victorian Coat of Arms, granted by King George V in 1910.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the Western Australian Coat of Arms, granted by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1969.
	2001: Commemorating the Centenary of Federation. Featuring the Norfolk Island Coat of Arms, granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1980.
	2002: Commemorating the Year of the Outback. Designed and sculpted by Wojciech Pietranik.
	2003: Commemorating Australia's Volunteers. Designed and sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald.
	2004: Primary School design competition winner John Serrano. Sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald.
	2005: Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War 2. This design was inspired by a photograph in the Australian War Memorial collection of a scene of a burial at El Alamein in 1942. Designed and sculpted by Wojciech Pietranik.
	2005: Secondary School Commonwealth Games design competition winner. Designed by Kelly Just. Sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald.
	2010: Commemorating Australia Day. Designed and sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald.

Commemorative coins

There have been various commemorative reverses

As per all coins of Australia, the reigning monarch features on the obverse. Only Elizabeth II has been monarch during the coin's existence. Three portraits of her have featured on the coin: from 1969 to 1984 one by Arnold Machin, from 1985 to 1998 one by Raphael Maklouf and since 1999 a portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley which had been introduced to the coins of the pound sterling a year before.

With a diameter of 31.5 mm, the 50 c coin is one of the largest in size among those currently circulating in the world. Coins of larger diameter include the Costa Rican five-hundred-colónes, Ni Vanuatu fifty-vatu and the fifty-CFP Franc are larger, all 32.9 mm.