​Australian pound note

The pound (sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. Like other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s or /–), each of 12 pence. 

The establishment of a separate Australian currency was contemplated by section 51(xii) of the Constitution of Australia, which gave Federal Parliament the right to legislate with respect to "currency, coinage, and legal tender".

The Deakin government's Coinage Act 1909 distinguished between "British coin" and "Australian coin", giving both statuses as legal tender of equal value. The Act gave the Treasurer power to issue silver, bronze and nickel coins, with the dimensions, size, denominations, weight and fineness to be determined by proclamation of the Governor-General. The first coins were issued in 1910, produced by the Royal Mint in London. 

The Fisher Government's Australian Notes Act 1910 gave the Governor-General the power to authorize the Treasurer to issue "Australian notes" as legal tender, "payable in gold coin on demand at the Commonwealth Treasury". It also prohibited the circulation of state notes and withdrew their status as legal tenders. In the same year the Bank Notes Tax Act 1910 was passed imposing a prohibitive tax of 10% per annum on "all bank notes issued or re-issued by any bank in the Commonwealth after the commencement of this Act, and not redeemed", which effectively ended the use of private currency in Australia.