Last note and first coin

The first Australian currency issue to honour Indigenous culture, Australia’s paper $1 note was first issued at decimalisation in 1966 and last issued from 1982. The last Australian $1 note carried the facsimile signatures of Bob Johnston, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and John Stone, Secretary to the Treasury. The demise of the $1 note was attributable to the impact of inflation, and the greater durability and cost-effectiveness of its ultimate replacement—the aluminium-bronze $1 coin.

Although the removal of the much-loved $1 note created some controversy, the new $1 coin quickly endeared itself to the Australian public. Apart from being the first to carry Stuart Devlin’s superb ‘Mob of Kangaroos’ design, the utterly unique 1984 $1 is also notable as the only circulating Australian $1 coin to carry the original decimal portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Arnold Machin.