Australian dollar (AUD)

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Australian dollar is the official currency of the Australian Union, including Christmas Island, the Cocos Islands and Norfolk Island and the independent island nations of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean. The international code of Australian dollar according to ISO 4217 is AUD. At home it is often called A$ and AU$ or simply "$". 1 Australian dollar is equal to 100 cents.

History of the Australian dollar

Traders Forex currency market Australian dollar seems to be a familiar currency, but it is a young unit of currency. The date of its introduction into circulation is February 14, 1966. Prior to that, Australia's monetary system was duodecimal and the national currency was called the Australian pound.

An interesting moment in the history of the Australian dollar was the choice of its name. In 1965, shortly before the renewal of the country's monetary system, several options were proposed: "the royal"("royal"), "the austral"("Australian"), "the oz" ("Oz"), "the boomer"("kangaroo"), "the roo"("kangaroo"), "the kanga"("kangaroo"), "the emu"("emu"), "the digger"("Aussie"), "the kwid"("quid"), and even, jokingly, "the ming" (the nickname of Australian Prime Minister Menzies). Most options, as you can see, reflected the unusual fauna of the island nation, but Robert Menzies preferred the name "the royal. But even in spite of the patronage of the dignitary, as well as samples of new banknotes printed in the printers, people rejected such an arrogant name, and the currency decided to call "originally" "The Dollar".

As a result, on February 14, 1966, the Australian dollar officially entered into circulation. Initially it was exchanged at the rate of $2 per pound or 20 shillings and was pegged to the rate of pound as 2.5 to 1. However, as early as 1967, Australia withdrew from sterling, thus safeguarding itself from further devaluation.

Australian dollar banknotes and coins

Besides bills in 1, 2, 10 and 20 Australian dollars which have appeared in 1966 and were equivalent to Australian pounds of the same nominal value, coins in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents have also been put into circulation. Later, in 1984, the $1 coin replaced the banknote, and a little later the $2 coin appeared. This was due to high inflation, which also necessitated the creation of the 50 (1873) and 100 (1984) Australian dollar bills. Actively used in the daily life of Australians, the bill of 5 dollars appeared in 1967, when the decimal monetary system became customary for the population of the country.

In addition to monetary units for household needs, Australia regularly issues 50-cent commemorative coins on the eve of important holidays. For example, the first of these was minted in 1970 to commemorate the anniversary of Captain Cook's sailing along the eastern coast of the Australian continent. This was followed by commemorations of the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana in 1981, the Brisbane Union Games in 1982 and the bicentenary of Australia in 1988. Even now it is not uncommon for Australia to issue commemorative coins of 20 and 50 cents, as well as $1. At the same time does it a large circulation, as they are popular with collectors.

Plastic Australian dollars

Right now, everyone Australian dollar bills are made of a special polypropylene polymer to significantly increase their lifespan. Interestingly, the first such plastic banknotes were issued in 1988 by Note Printing Australia at the request of the government for the bicentennial of European settlements in Australia. The banknotes were highly unusual, with a transparent window in which the portrait of Captain James Cook could be viewed at different angles. It was a kind of security feature. Australia was the first nation to use such a technique on a permanent basis.

The role of the Australian dollar in the Forex market

It is worth noting that Australian dollar is one of the most frequently used currencies in the exchange process. The volume of transactions falling on it, is about 5% of the world's monetary turnover. The Australian dollar is extremely popular among foreign exchange traders in the strategies of carry tradeThe Australian dollar is a very attractive interest rate even in times of crisis. Another feature of currency pairs with the Australian dollar is their high volatility. The fact that Australia is a mining country and an active exporter, generates a lot of trades with the Aussie every day, making significant fluctuations in the price charts of Forex traders. In recent years, due to the crisis situation, the relative stability of Australia has become attractive for larger players on the market: states increasingly include Australian dollar in its reserves, thereby raising its status as a currency.