The Australian Roonie

Well I've held off long enough. Australian coins intrigue me. There are many similarities to Canada (ie. the Queen is on the back of every coin), but Australians also have some neat differences. Unfortunately I don't have a Canadian Nickel to do the full comparison (sorry beaver). Starting from the left, the ingeniuos Aussies have completely gotten rid of the Penny. All purchases are rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. That penny jar containing $20 at home could just disappear! Not to mention the 20 pennies you always find in your wallet.

The Aussie Nickel is about the same size as the Canadian, it features an Echidna. Since I don't actually know to pronounce the name of that animal. I'm going to go with the Cdn version, and just stick to calling it the Nickel.

The Aussie Dime grows significantly. In Canada the dime actually shrinks to the smallest coin (a little bizarre ... no respect given for the poor Bluenose). I like the increase. .... I'm not entirely sure what the coin depicts..... internet research tells me it's the Lyrebird??? what the heck is that? I can't think of anything clever for this coin, so I think I'm going to stick to the Cdn version again, and call it the dime!

Uh oh, Australians have 20 cent coins! Goodbye Canadian Quarter, Caribou-hoo. Again, the 20 cent grows quite large and is actually larger than the Canadian "Toonie". The coin has a Platypus depicted on the front. A Platty, a Pussy .... oh ..... I don't think I should be asking to get my spare pussy back from a cashier. Doesn't sound very good. I'm going to follow Canadian tradition. Instead of a quarter, I'm going to call this one, a Fifth!

Woah Coin .... woah coin .... woah coin! Holy jumping jawillickers. Not only does Australia have a 50 cent coin in circulation (I think Canada does.... although it might be a myth), but it's jacked up on as many steroids as Barry Bonds. This thing is a monster. Can you imagine when you have 3 or 4 of these in your wallet. I've had to get a new notch punched into my belt just to keep my pants from falling down. The official coin has the Australian Coat of Arms.... come on let's come up with something a little more creative. I've decided to nickname this the "Fitty".

The $1 and $2. The Loonie and Toonie back home. The two biggest Canadian coins, the two most valuable. The toonie is so valuable that its made of two colours. The Australian $1 and $2 coins have some serious shrinkage issues (and I'm not talking about laundry). The $2 coin is actually the 2nd smallest Australian coin, yet it's the most valuable. The $1 pictures kangaroos, while the $2 has an Aboriginal Elder. I've started a trend by quickly nicknaming the $1 coin the Roonie, and I'm going to stick with Toonie for the $2. There are options for a different $2 coin name, but I'll leave that to imagination!