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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
Mechanical effect: The Act sets the legal framework for Australian coinage. It (a) fixes standards for coin weight and metal purity by reference to the Schedule (s 3 and Schedule); (b) gives the Treasurer power to make and issue silver, bronze and (by proclamation) nickel coins to those standards (s 4); (c) makes British and Australian coins of "current weight" legal tender within stated limits (s 5); (d) prohibits private persons from making coins or tokens (s 6); (e) requires money contracts and related instruments to be expressed in current legal tender unless they use the currency of a British possession or foreign state (s 7); and (f) gives the Governor‑General power by proclamation to set designs, denominations, weights, fineness, remedy allowances, least current weights, call in coins and similar details, with proclamations having the force of law (s 8(1)–(2)). The Act also permits the Treasurer to use moneys standing to the credit of the Trust Fund to buy bullion for coinage (s 9) and treats coin made under the Act as bullion for Treasury accounting until it is issued (s 10). The Governor‑General may make regulations to implement the Act (s 11).
Who decides: The Treasurer decides whether to have coins made and issues silver/bronze (s 4). The Governor‑General has broad executive rule‑making power by proclamation over denominations, dimensions, design, least current weight, remedy allowances, calling in coins, and related matters; proclamations operate as if they were enacted in the Act (s 8(1)–(2)). The Governor‑General may also make regulations to prescribe necessary or convenient matters (s 11).
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Direct links to the current provisions in Coinage Act 1909.
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View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
Who pays / who bears costs: Coin production and bullion purchases are arranged by the Treasurer (s 4, s 9). The Act explicitly allows Trust Fund moneys to be invested in bullion purchases (s 9), so money from that account is available for the Government to buy metal for coinage; those uses have opportunity costs for the Trust Fund. Holders of coins may bear costs if coins are called in under proclamation (s 8(1)(e)). Private persons who make unauthorised coins or tokens face a monetary penalty (s 6).
What behaviour must change for private parties: Private creation or issue of any metal piece as coin or token is forbidden; contravention attracts a penalty of twenty pounds (s 6). Parties entering money contracts must use the coins that are current legal tender under this Act (s 7), unless they expressly use a different foreign or British possession currency (s 7). Cash payees may refuse coins that are not of "current weight" as defined (s 5(2)).
Legal tender mechanics and limits: British or Australian coins of "current weight" are legal tender: gold coins for any amount, silver coins up to 40 shillings, bronze up to 1 shilling (s 5(1)). A coin below the least current weight specified (by UK law for British coins, or by proclamation for Australian coins) is not of current weight and therefore not legal tender (s 5(2)).
Discretion and centralisation: The statute vests significant discretion in the executive. The Governor‑General can change technical features (design, denominations, weights, fineness, remedy allowances and least current weight), call in coins, and make those changes effective as law via proclamation (s 8(1)–(2)). The Treasurer has authority to commission minting and to use Trust Fund monies to buy bullion (s 4, s 9). Regulations may be made to fill implementation details (s 11).
Implementation, compliance burden, and enforcement mechanisms: Compliance for the public means using legal tender coins that meet the weight/fineness standards set in the Schedule or in proclamation (s 3, s 4, s 5). The Schedule contains precise technical specifications for denominations, weights and fineness (Schedule). Private issuers are deterred by the criminal penalty in s 6. The Act relies on proclamations and regulations for much of the operational detail (s 8, s 11), so implementation depends on executive instruments rather than further primary‑law amendments.
Concrete trade‑offs and incentive points (sourced to sections):
What is not in the text: The Act does not set out an explicit policy rationale or cost–benefit calculation in its own words. Any claim about motivations or wider public effects is an inference from the powers and limits the text establishes (see s 3–11 and Schedule).