World War II began with the German invasion of Poland on September 3rd, 1939, and ended with the the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945. Almost a million Australians, both men and women, served in the Second World War. They fought in campaigns against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as against Japan in south-east Asia and other parts of the Pacific.
General Eisenhower decided that the US campaign in the Pacific was to be directed from Australia, and so close to a million US military personnel were based at various locations throughout Eastern Australia between 1942 and 1945.
This number was at least 10% of the Australian population at the time, and so had a significant impact on many aspects of daily life, not least the national coinage. Coins were in very short supply across the country right throughout WWII, particularly in areas where US servicemen were based (they were paid in cash). The total supply of coinage circulating throughout Australia in 1939 was 50 million pounds, and rose to a peak of 203 million pounds in 1944.
A shortage of skilled labour at the Australian branch mints caused the Commonwealth Treasury to request the US Government to quote on supplying certain quantities of silver coins to supplement those being produced in Australia, and this is the reason why a number of coins produced between 1942 and 1944 feature “D” and “S” mintmarks.
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