As Australia marks 60 years since the switch to decimal currency, the Royal Australian Mint is hoping to track down a group of schoolchildren captured in a long-displayed photograph from the changeover era.
This Saturday marks six decades since Australia officially moved from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents – a major shift that reshaped everyday life for millions of Australians.
To commemorate the anniversary, the Royal Australian Mint is appealing for help to identify the class of children pictured in a photograph that has hung in the halls of the Mint’s museum for many years.
“So this year we are celebrating 60 years of decimalisation and it was a really big change for Australia and one that went really well,” Royal Australian Mint CEO Emily Martin told Today.
“That photo has been hanging in our museum for a long time and we don’t know at what school it was taken, we don’t have the names of the students, we don’t have the name of the teacher.
“All we know is it was taken during the public education campaign when children were taught a song and they were also taught how to convert pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents.”
The photograph dates back to the nationwide education push that helped Australians understand the new system ahead of its introduction in 1966, with schoolchildren playing a key role in spreading the message at home.
Martin said the Mint would love to reconnect with the former students, and possibly their families, as a meaningful way to mark the milestone.
“We believe they would be in their early 70s now, so maybe someone remembers mum or dad talking about it or their grandparents,” she said.
“It’s just a bit of fun for us to find out who they are and what experience and their story of the time.”
Image: Royal Australian Mint
