What it does
This determination (the Currency (Royal Australian Mint) Determination 2015 (No. 6)) amends the statutory specifications for Australian coins by adding and describing denominations, metal compositions, weights (with allowable tolerances), shapes, dimensions, edge finishes and the required obverse and reverse designs. It is made under paragraph 13(2)(b) and subsection 13A(1) of the Currency Act 1965 (see s 3). Mechanically the instrument operates by treating the entries in Schedule 1 of this determination as if they were included in the Schedule to the Currency Act 1965: s 5(2)(a) and (b) provide that the Act has effect on and after commencement "as if" those denominations and the specified standard compositions were in the Act's Schedule. Section 6(2) performs the same function for the physical specifications , the Part 1 table in Schedule 1 is declared to specify standard weight, allowable variation, design and dimensions for coins taken to be specified in the Schedule to the Act.
The determination therefore operates as a statutory specification instrument rather than as a policy statement. It does not, on its face, create offences, fees, or administrative processes; rather it prescribes technical standards (metal, purity, mass tolerances, diameter or, for tetradecagonal coins, shortest diameter, and maximum thickness), and design elements (through compact symbol codes explained in Part 2). It also expressly preserves any other determinations made under the same sub‑sections: s 5(3) and s 6(5) state that the sections "do not affect any other determination" made under the same powers.
Concretely, the Schedule lists multiple denominations and companion specifications. The table includes circulation‑type coins in copper/nickel and cupro‑aluminium‑nickel alloys (for example, 20c and 50c entries and a $1 cupro‑aluminium‑nickel entry), as well as a range of silver and gold coins issued with face values (for example $1, $5, $10, $25, $30, $50, $100) and explicit metal purities (for example "At least 99.9% silver", "At least 99.99% gold") together with the required inscriptions of metal weight/purity such as "1oz .999 Ag" or "1/20oz .9999 Au." The Part 2 table then decodes the symbols used in Part 1 for shape (S1 = circular, S2 = tetradecagonal), edge (E1-E3), obverse variants (O1-O4) and a set of numbered reverse designs (R1-R17) with detailed textual descriptions that must be reproduced when minting.