The Currency Proclamation of 1800

Australia’s first official currency system…

The development of Australia as a nation and the development of its domestic currency system are inextricably linked. How a penniless, starving colony populated mostly by convicts was transformed into an orderly society with a stable economy is one of the most intriguing chapters in Australian history. The work of Australia’s third governor, Captain Philip Gidley King, the Currency Proclamation of 1800 unwittingly inspired this transformation.

Currency is much more than just a medium of exchange – it provides a rich insight into the history and culture of a people, and represents physical evidence of the progress of a country. The currency used in Australia over the last 230+ years is a potent illustration of this phenomenon – and the coinage employed in the days after European Settlement in 1788 forms the beginning of a compelling chronicle of our path to nationhood. It was not the easiest of starts…

Great Britain thought of New South Wales, as it was then known, as a giant prison – the perfect place to dump those deemed to have breached the draconian laws of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. The free settlers were to be self-sufficient, and those transported as prisoners would do the hard work. For settler and convict alike, however, life was tough in Britain’s isolated southern possession. The harsh, unfamiliar landscape yielded little for the newcomers, and disease was rampant throughout the tiny population. Surviving under these circumstances was a significant achievement in itself, but for those who did, there was another difficulty to be faced – the lack of any official organisation of circulating currency.

With Europe in turmoil, and Britain’s Treasury under massive pressure, authorities in London gave little thought to the administration of the new colony. Britain’s refusal to address the obvious need for currency in New South Wales was just one of many glaring oversights. The result? Economic chaos. Rum was the dominant measure of value, with a wild mix of foreign coins supplementing a system of barter and often worthless promissory notes.

Arriving on our shores largely as a result of trade, the foreign coins used in early Australia originated from lands as far-flung as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, India and, of course, Britain. Changing hands on the basis of the intrinsic value, it was extremely difficult for people to determine relative worth – until King’s Currency Proclamation of 1800, that is!

In late 1800, four tonnes of Britain’s 1797 Cartwheel Penny landed upon Australian shores. The first coin officially exported to the colony of New South Wales, and therefore deemed to be Australia’s first official coin, it was the arrival of the 1797 Cartwheel Penny that actually triggered King’s Proclamation of 1800. That this was the case was made clear by King himself, beginning the Proclamation with the news that the shipment of pennies had arrived, and going on to state that they would be issued by the Government Stores “at a rate of Two pence for each Copper; and the same shall pass current in the Colony, and is to circulate at the aforesaid rate of Two pence”.

King took the opportunity provided by the need to regulate the new copper coins by also regulating a broad array of other coinage circulating in the colony as well. Stating that “I have judged it most expedient herewith to publish the following table of all the specie circulating legally in the Colony”, King ascribed a putative denomination to eleven different coins, including the aforementioned copper penny – as listed below.

Through the Currency Proclamation of 1800, nailed to the Government Stores in Sydney and Parramatta, King hoped to engender the confidence and certainty necessary for a stable economy. The measure was also intended to discourage visiting traders from draining the colony of coinage. The success of these twin aims was mixed – traders simply raised their prices, and the drain on the colony’s currency continued unabated, for example – but the impact of King’s Proclamation of 1800 was eternal. Constituting the first official currency system in Australia, the Proclamation proved a defining moment in Australia’s monetary history, and is rightly considered the birthplace of Australian numismatics.

The coins listed in King’s Proclamation rank among Australia’s greatest numismatic icons. Struck from nearly 1oz of gold, the key is the Portuguese-Brazilian Johanna. Given the highest value by King, at £4, this highly sought after coin is known as ‘The Prize of the Proclamation’. The Spanish-American Silver 8 Reales, the Dutch Gold Ducat, Britain’s Gold Guinea, India’s Gold Mohur & Gold Pagoda, Britain’s Cartwheel Penny…these famous coin types are hotly pursued – not just in Australia, but right around the world.

At Downies, we regularly offer the coins listed in the Proclamation – as well as those coins not specifically listed but that circulated at the time, known as ‘Proclamation Era’ coins. Whilst some of these eminently historic coins rank as great rarities, such as the Portuguese-Brazilian Johanna and Half Johanna, and Britain’s George III Gold Guinea, many are surprisingly affordable. Thus, everyone has the chance to secure a coin from this crucial period, and own a genuine, tangible artefact of the earliest period of Australia’s colonial history.