6 Pence - Elizabeth II without 'F:D:'

The omission of "F:D:" — Fidei Defensor, Defender of the Faith — from Australia's first Elizabeth II coinage was deliberate, reflecting sustained political pressure from Irish-Australian Catholic groups who objected to the title appearing on currency circulating in a secular, multi-faith nation. The titles were reinstated from 1955 onward after the controversy subsided, making the 1953–54 issues a two-year anomaly in an otherwise unbroken tradition stretching back through the entire Commonwealth series.