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Silver Pennies in 790AD
Pennies replaced 0.8 - 1.3 gram sceattas, issued earlier in 600AD at 20 to a scillinga, one (variable) Roman ounce.
In contrast, the higher, consistent weight of pennies just under 1½ g of fine silver, was based on the French denier at 12d to the sou/scilling/shilling unit weight, with 240 pennies equalling a 350 gram Pound. After 1078, scales were kept in the Tower of London. And from 1158, in the reign of King Henry II, more durable sterling silver (92½% silver and 7½% copper) was issued in place of fine silver.
About 1280, a fourpenny bit was issued in England using 5.1 grams of fine silver. Called a groat, it corresponded to the "groschen", a thick silver coin issued in Prague in Bohemia - today's Czech Republic, also in Tirol in Northern Italy, and elsewhere.
By the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1558, the level of silver in England's groat had dropped to 2.1 grams, though it continued to be issued until 1856. The penny itself reduced to a ½ gram of sterling silver, while also minted at this time were the silver threepence 1½ grams, sixpence 3 grams, one shilling 6 grams (1/-), and crown 30 grams (5/-) with sterling silver valued at 5s.2d per troy ounce.
Gold coins after 1717
The gold price was fixed in British law in 1717 by Sir Isaac Newton, master of the Royal Mint in London, at 84 shillings and 11 pence ha'penny per troy ounce of fine gold (at 24ct 99.9% purity) or 77 shillings and 10 pence ha'penny (at 22ct 91.66% purity) becoming the "gold standard" for 200 years. But noting, as has been argued, "England did not establish the gold standard by any conscious and deliberate act, and it is doubtful whether anyone foresaw that it would
Copper Penny in 1797
In 1797 the penny changed from a ½ gram silver coin to a heavy copper coin, initially 28.3 grams then after 1806, 18.9 grams. In 1860 it became a bronze penny (95% copper, 4% tin 1% zinc) weighing 9.4 grams. It was regarded as legal tender up to one shilling.
Other copper related coins were the farthing, a ¼ penny originally minted with a tin surface and issued between 1603-1961. Also the halfpenny, issued 1672-1969. Before 1800, these two coins were legal tender up to six pence.
Silver and Gold coins after 1816
In 1816 in both England and Australia, sterling silver was revalued to 5s.6d per troy ounce, and thus threepence (3d) reduced fractionally to 1.41375 grams, sixpence (6d) 2.8275 grams, shilling (1/-) 5.655 grams, crown (5/-) 28.276 grams, and in 1849 a new florin (2/-) coin 11.31 grams. They were legal tender up to £2.
In England the silver content of the coins was reduced to 50% in 1920, then abandoned altogether in 1947. All five coins were subsequently made of copper and nickel.
From 1817 gold sovereigns worth £1 (20 shillings) contained 7.32 grams fine (0.2354 troy oz), and weighed 7.98 grams in 22ct standard gold or 11/12ths purity. Half-sovereigns worth 10 shillings weighed 3.99 grams.
Gold sovereigns were also minted in the Australian colonies. All sovereigns were readily exchangeable for Bank of England banknotes and silver. This ceased on September 19th 1931, and since then they have been collectors items only.
In 1946 the Bank of England was nationalized — the Bank had previously been run as a private corporation from the city of London.
In 1971 the Bank adopted decimal currency where £1 equalled 100p. The penny (1p) remained bronze but its weight was now 3.56 grams. A 2p coin was 7.12 grams. Since 1992 both have been made of copper plated steel (steel is an iron carbon alloy). They are legal tender for transactions up to the value of 20p.
Higher denominations 5p and 10p coins are legal tender for transactions up to £5, 20p and 50p up to £10, while £1 and £2 coins, containing nickel copper and zinc, are legal tender to any amount.
Click here for the Official Bank Rate history
Click here for the latest report by the Bank of England that showed the current value of bank notes on issue at approximately £82 billion.
Quantities £50 notes-£13.45 billion £20-£52.3 billion £10-£13.5 billion and £5-£2 billion.
These notes are backed by about $US100 billion in UK Government reserves, consisting of foreign exchange, IMF reserves, and 310 tonnes of gold.
The Bank of England stores roughly 5,000 tonnes of gold in total, worth over $US200 billion, on behalf of many foreign central banks including Australia.
After 1826, silver coins were issued regularly to the colony by the London mint. Gold coins on the other hand were minted in Sydney (from 1855), in Melbourne (from 1872) and in Perth (from 1899).
Regular minting of gold coins ceased in 1931. Since then they have been collectors items only.
In 1912 the Commonwealth Bank was opened in Melbourne, fully owned by the Commonwealth Government. In 1916 the Melbourne mint began silver coin production, followed in the 1930s by the Perth mint. The silver content of these coins was reduced to 50% in 1946, then abandoned altogether in 1966 with the advent of decimal currency.
In 1960, the Reserve Bank of Australia was opened in Canberra, replacing the government activities of the Commonwealth Bank, which was then fully privatised in 1996.
Printing overseen by Note Printing Australia, based in Melbourne, on behalf of the Reserve Bank.
Click here for the Official Bank Rate history
Click here for the latest report by the Reserve Bank showing a total value of bank notes on issue at approximately $101 billion.
Quantities $100 notes-$48 billion $50-$47 billion $20-$3.7 billion $10-$1.4 billion and $5-$1 billion.
Backed by 80 tonnes of gold, IMF reserves, and about $50 billion in seven foreign currencies:- USD 55%, EUR 20%, then JPY, GBP, CAD, CNY and KRW 5% each.
Since 1966, all Australian coins have been manufactured at the Canberra mint.
Coins are only legal tender up to $5 for any combination of 5c 10c 20c and 50c coins, and need only be accepted up to $10 for $1 coins, and up to $20 for $2 coins.
| Value | First Issued | Current Weight | Current Composition | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One cent | 1966 | 2.6 grams | 97% copper 2½% zinc ½% tin | Withdrawn in 1991 as metal value exceeded face value |
| Two cent | 1966 | 5.2 grams | 97% copper 2½% zinc ½% tin | Withdrawn in 1991 as metal value exceeded face value |
| Five cent | 1966 | 2.83 grams | Copper 75% Nickel 25% | |
| Ten cent | 1966 | 5.65 grams | Copper 75% Nickel 25% | |
| Twenty cent | 1966 | 11.3 grams | Copper 75% Nickel 25% | |
| Fifty cent | 1966 | 15.55 grams | Copper 75% Nickel 25% | Initially released as 80% silver, 20% copper but this coin was discontinued as silver content exceeded face value. In 1969 it was reissued in its current form with a twelve-sided coin to differentiate it from 20 cent coin. |
| One dollar | 1984 | 9 grams | Copper 92% Aluminium 6% Nickel 2% | |
| Two dollar | 1988 | 6.6 grams | Copper 92% Aluminium 6% Nickel 2% |
Before the American Revolution in 1776, all coins were minted in England and in other foreign countries. These coins remained legal tender in the USA until 1857. In 1792 the US adopted the "silver dollar" as its official currency and until 1913 had no true "Central Banking" system. Following a surge in the price of silver during the
The first US Treasurer was Alexander Hamilton, officially appointed in 1789. The first US Mint however was an independent body, set up by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State in 1792, and remained independent of the Treasury until 1873.
The initial US coins were the
| Value | First Issued | Current Weight | Current Composition | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One cent | 1793 | 2½ grams | Copper Plated Zinc (97.5%) | In 1793 it was issued as 100% copper weighing 13.48 grams, then after 1795 10.89 grams, in 1856 mostly copper at 4.64 grams, in 1864 at 3.11 grams, then since 1983 it's been Copper Plated Zinc at 2½ grams |
| Silver half-dime Copper and Nickel since 1866 | 1792 | 5 grams | Copper 75% Nickel 25% | In 1866 the five cent nickel replaced the silver half-dime 1.125 grams of fine silver |
| Ten cent dime | 1792 | 2.268 grams | Copper 91.67% Nickel 8.33% | In 1965 the ten cent dime replaced the silver dime that had been 2.25 grams of fine silver |
| 25 cent quarter (two bits) | 1792 | 5.67 grams | Copper 91.67% Nickel 8.33% | In 1965 the 25 cent quarter replaced the silver quarter that had been 5.625 grams of fine silver |
| 50 cent half dollar | 1794 | 11.34 grams | Copper 91.67% Nickel 8.33% | In 1965 the 50 cent half dollar reduced the silver half dollar that had been 90% silver, 10% copper, 11.25 grams of fine silver, from 90% to 40%. In 1971 it replaced it completely |
| One dollar | 1794 | 8.1 grams | Copper 88.5% Zinc 6% Manganese 3½% Nickel 2% | Silver dollar coin (1794-1934) had 24.05 grams of fine silver and gold dollar coin (1849-1889) had 1.505 grams of fine gold. In 2001 the Sacagawea dollar coin was issued with zero silver or gold. Silver and gold dollar coins were often hard to find in general circulation (except perhaps at Christmas time as presents) |
Paper dollar notes in the US have always been far more popular to spend than silver dollar and gold dollar coins when people purchased goods, however in the early years there was no guarantee any private banknote would be honoured by another bank. Dollar notes printed by banks in other states (including by the government) could be discounted or refused.
Click here regarding US de facto central banks 1781-1836.
In 1863 the National Bank Act brought in extra Federal control, a system of privately owned National Banks with their banknotes backed by bank holdings of US Treasury securities. Secondly the Congress, being short of silver and gold, authorized the printing of $450 million in US dollar notes (called "greenbacks") that were declared to be legal tender to pay the government's bills, and were eventually able to be redeemed for silver or gold coins at par after 1878. Thirdly in 1865 the Government imposed a 10% tax on banknotes issued by privately owned State Banks, causing them to eventually cease.
In 1913 the US Federal Reserve was established as a true central banking system, a decentralised organisation of twelve districts: Boston (1-A), New York (2-B), Philadelphia (3-C), Cleveland (4-D), Richmond (5-E), Atlanta (6-F), Chicago (7-G), St. Louis (8-H), Minneapolis (9-I), Kansas City (10-J), Dallas (11-K), and San Francisco (12-L). The US Federal Reserve Notes issued by these twelve districts then steadily replaced all other US paper dollars, in denominations of $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100.
Click here for the US Federal Funds Rate. The assets of the US Federal Reserve are owned by their member banks. On each district board there are nine directors, six are appointed by the member banks, and three are appointed by the US Board of Governors to implement US Government policy.
Click here for the latest US Federal Reserve report, showing US Currency in Circulation at just over $2 trillion dollars.
Click here for the breakdown in December 2023
Quantities $100 notes-$1.84 trillion, $50-$124 billion, $20-$230 billion, $10-$23.3 billion, $5-$17.5 billion, $2-$3 billion, $1-$14.3 billion and 400,000 notes ranging from $500 to $10,000-about $300 million.
Backed by 8000 tonnes of gold, IMF reserves and about $35 billion in foreign exchange.
** End of Report