Five months ago, Charles III was crowned king of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, including Australia. The first coins bearing the monarch’s head will be issued by the end of the year; other denominations will be released next year.

“This is a historic day,” Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Employment, Competition, Charities and Treasury, said. “For seven decades, Australians have seen a queen on their coins. This will be the first time for many Australians that they have held a circulating coin which has a king on it rather than a queen.”

The Royal Australian Mint today released the effigy of Charles III that will appear on coins it produces. Designed by Dan Thorne, at the Royal Mint in London, it is a generic view of the king, based on different images. The Commonwealth effigy was approved by Buckingham Palace.

The direction the monarch faces has changed: the late queen, Elizabeth II, faced right; Charles III faces left. The queen wore a crown; the king does not.

The first circulating coin to bear the king’s effigy will be the $1 coin. Ten million will be in people’s hands by Christmas, Dr Leigh said. The remaining denominations (five, 10, 20, and 50 cents, and $2) will be progressively released next year.

The Mint released 120 million circulating coins in the last financial year across all denominations; while 10 million units is less than normal circulation, it is “a lot going out in a small amount of time”, the Mint’s CEO, Leigh Gordon AO CSM, said.

Coins with the late queen’s image will continue to circulate among Australians for half a century, after Prince William takes the throne, Mr Gordon expects. Coins have a life of 30 years, and people still find coins from 1966 (the year Australia introduced decimal coinage) in their change.

“Australians can rest assured that all existing coins featuring the late Queen’s effigy can continue to be used,” he said.

The first coin the Mint makes next year will be a King Charles coin, Mr Gordon stated.

The first collector and investment coins bearing the King’s effigy will be available to buy next year. The Mint will continue to use the Queen Elizabeth II memorial effigy used across collectable and investment coins, gradually withdrawing them; by May, the Mint will have fully transitioned to the Charles III effigy.

The UK has been using Charles III coins since last year: memorial 50-pence coins were released into circulation in December 2022. But the Mint has waited nearly a year.

“We were very respectful of the process, and we didn’t want to jump the gun, if you will,” Mr Gordon said. “We also wanted to allow the British Royal Mint able to release to the Commonwealth nations.

“It’s not something that we particularly want to rush. We want to get it right. These coins will last for 30 years or more, depending on the usage that they get, so we need to get it right.”

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