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A currency’s history

Australian dollar in 1988: Polymer pioneer · 373

A liquid commodity currency and pioneer of polymer banknotes. Australian dollar is one of the units this atlas Australian dollar divides its story at 1988, under “Polymer pioneer.” The figure attached to that history is 1966. Do not replace the sentence with the number on a bureau de change board today. Fix the reason it was issued, the picture, and where it was used, to that year. Circulation is legal and practical: where Australian dollar is tender, where it is accepted, and where it is merely a parallel unit.

A liquid commodity currency and pioneer of polymer banknotes. Australian dollar is one of the units this atlas treats as a full monetary system — not only a ticker symbol. Its story runs from Canberra in 1966 through note design, central-bank practice and the FX role it plays today.

Scores on this site compare Australian dollar with the other currencies in the atlas on reserve weight, global reach, stability, cash culture, design iconicity and policy autonomy. They are relative editorial judgements, not forecasts. The seven chapters cover origins and reforms, the look of notes and coins, the issuer's mandate, where the money circulates, FX and reserves, crisis history, and how people pay with it now.

Australian dollar (AUD) is issued or defined under Reserve Bank of Australia. A liquid commodity currency and pioneer of polymer banknotes. Reserve Bank of Australia sets monetary policy and oversees the unit; physical production involves Royal Australian Mint. No. Tool-Lifes /money is a static educational atlas. It explains regimes, history and design without live tickers.

Australian dollar in 1988 under “Polymer pioneer” carries 1966. That figure is not today’s counter price.1988

Figures to keep

Year of the rule
1988
Figure in the history
1966
Currency
Australian dollar
Line in the record
Polymer pioneer

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