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Australia
Ancient Times Barter, or trade, is the act of exchanging objects or resources for what you want. It goes back to ancient times. Some people think it is not only human activity but that plants and animals have been trading for what they need for millions of years. Humans definitely have been trading earlier than using currency.
Pre-Colonization The money that cultures native to the Pacific islands used was diverse. In the 19th century, when the Yap islanders were first visited by the Europeans, they used stone disks, sometimes as wide as 4 meters, for money. A picture of one of the disks that the the islanders used is shown below. Other civilizations used cloth, feathers, shells, and even teeth as their money. Lots of these things are used as illustrations for the modern coins and dollars issued by banks in Australia. The Aborigines also traded stones, shells, and boomerangs.
1788 The Europeans bartered with rum.
Late 1788 Australian colonists used English or Spanish money.
1790 There was a shortage of English money. To prevent Spain from taking their money on a ship, Governor Macquarie had the centers of Spanish money cut out and they were called holey dollars. He did that so the money would be useless in Spain.
1813 New South Wales was stamped on one side of a 5-shilling piece.
1817 The Bank of New South Wales was established as Australia's first bank.
1853 This gold Australian coin was made in Port Phillip, Victoria. It was produced by a private English firm, not by the government.
1901 British silver and bronze coins were still in use.
1901 Australia declares its independence from Great Britain. It needed its own money now.
1910 Australian Commonwealth silver coins were put into use.
1913 The first series of Australian notes were based on the British sterling system.
1945 The Commonwealth Bank Act formally established the Commonwealth Bank as sole legal issuer of Australian currency notes. This is a sign of unity between the states of Australia because now they all had the same currency.
1966 Australia uses the dollar instead of the British sterling system.
1977 This one kina coin has the official crest of Papua New Guinea on the front. The back has a freshwater and a saltwater crocodile.
1985 The paper dollar was replaced with the coin dollar.
1993 New Zealand makes its first coin for just itself. One side has animals from New Zealand such as the Kiwi and the other side has the British monarch's head. All Australian currently coins have Queen Elizabeth II on the front.
1997 The back of the 5 kina note has a kina shell which was used for money in the 1950s and 60s. It also has a Hombuli Mask used for bridal payments in the Sepik area. The front of the 5 kina note has the crest of Papua New Guinea.
Present They use paper money, coins, and credit cards.
Future The future currency of Australia and the rest of the world will probably be based on digital money. It will probably be more advanced and easier to use. Their will probably be no more coins or paper money, just credit cards.
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