Explanatory Statement
Currency Act 1965
Currency Determination (Royal Australian Mint) 2005 (1) Amendment
Sub-sections 13(6) and 13A(4) of the Currency Act 1965 provided that a determination made by the Treasurer is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of Section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 and so is subject to the same Parliamentary scrutiny that applies at present to the regulations making new coins.
Sub-sections 13(2)(a) and 13A (1) of the Currency Act 1965 also provide for the determination of coin characteristics ie standard composition, standard weight, allowable variation from standard weight, design and dimensions.
The Currency Determination (Royal Australian Mint) 2005 (1) Amendment provides for two coins:
- Queen’s Baton Relay Coin, a silver proof coin;
- Student Design coin, a copper and nickel coin.
The specifications are summarised below:
Queen’s Baton Relay Coin: Silver Proof:
A design to commemorate the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games . The image for the Silver coin features a representation of 18 Queen’s Relay Batons progressively increasing in size and a representation of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games logo; a Crown and the Prince’s Bridge, Melbourne with the inscriptions ‘Queen’s Baton Relay’; ‘XVIII COMMONWEALTH GAMES’; ‘5 Dollars’; and ‘Melbourne 2006’. The obverse will be an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II and the monogram ‘IRB’ surrounded by the inscriptions ‘ELIZABETH II’ and ‘AUSTRALIA 2006’.
Student Design 2005: Copper and Nickel
This coin has a design to commemorate the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games as part of the Commonwealth Games program. The image for the copper and nickel coin features a design consisting of: a man running, an emu, a man jumping, a frog and a branch, a kangaroo, a man jumping, a platypus, a man swimming, a stork with outstretched wings, a rhythmic gymnast holding a ribbon and the inscriptions: ‘MELBOURNE 2006’ ‘XVIII COMMONWEALTH GAMES’ ‘50’ and ‘KJ”. The obverse will be an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II and the monogram ‘IRB’ surrounded by the inscriptions ‘ELIZABETH II’ and ‘AUSTRALIA 2005’.