Australia can expect to see the new king’s face on our coins from 2023.
As per tradition, Charles will be facing left, as the direction the monarch ‘looks’ is reversed with each new reign.
In Australia, the lowest domination note, currently the $5 note, also uses the monarch’s image, although it wasn’t always so; King George VI appeared on all Australian banknotes and coins in his reign.
The first coins to carry the queen’s image in 1953 were designed by 71-year-old sculptor Mary Gillick, who broke with tradition and depicted the queen with a laurel wreath instead of a crown.
Since then her image has been updated in 1966 when Australia switched to decimal currency, in 1985, 1998 and 2019.
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