For several thousand years, gold was largely used to create religious items such as jewelry and idols. This continued until approximately 1500 BC, when the ancient Egyptian empire, which benefited considerably from its gold-bearing province of Nubia, declared gold to be the first recognized medium of international trade.
In 1966, the Australian Dollar supplanted the Australian Pound. The AUD became a floating currency in 1983. Australian one-dollar coins were debuted in 1984; two-dollar coins were released in 1988. The 1-cent and 2-cent coins were withdrawn from circulation in 2006.