The Australian Dollar was introduced on 14th February 1966, replacing the Australian £, at a value of TWO Australian dollars per Australian £.
In 1966 the Australian dollar was set at 2.5 to the British £ (GBP)
This graph shows the movement between 1969 and 2009 between the Australian Dollar AUD and the British Pound GBP, expressed as the value of the British Pound that ONE Australian dollar would purchase:
The exchange rates in this article are sourced from the Reserve Bank of Australia, and is the monthly averaged interbank rate.
The FX rate for the GBP to AUD has varied during this period between
Oct-1976 0.7801 (1.282 Dollars per pound)
and
Sep-2001 0.3345 (2.989 Dollars per Pound)
This graph shows the rate expressed as the number of Australia Dollars that ONE British Pound would purchase:
Until 1931 the Australian £ was equal in value to the British £, and both currencies could be used in Australia.
- GBP and AUD Foreign Exchange rates – source: www.rba.gov.au
- Reserve Bank of Australia – daily value of AUD against 13 currencies
History of the Australian Dollar – source: http://www.forexct.com.au
The Australian dollar was introduced on 14 February 1966, not only replacing the Australian pound (long since distinct from the pound sterling), but also introducing a decimal system.
In 1965 the Prime Minister at the time, Robert Menzies wished to name the currency “The Royal”, and other names such as “the Austral”, “The Oz”, “The Boomer”, “The Roo”, “The Kanga”, “The Emu”, “The Digger”, “The Kwid” and “Ming” (the nickname of Menzies) were also proposed. Due to Menzies’ influence, the name “Royal” was settled upon, and trial designs were prepared and printed by the printing works of the Reserve Bank of Australia. The unusual choice of name for the currency proved unpopular, and it was later shelved in favour of “dollar”.
On 14 February 1966 the Australian dollar was introduced at a rate of two dollars per pound, or ten shillings per dollar.
In 1967 the Australian dollar effectively left the sterling area for the first time. When sterling devalued in 1967 against the U.S. dollar, the new Australian dollar did not follow. It maintained its peg to the U.S. dollar at the same rate.
2009 GBP to AUD Exchange rate
