Expat confused by Aussie coin detail

There’s a lot of things expats find confusing about Australia, such as its sheer size, but it’s Aussie coins that has left this woman baffled.

Canadian expat shocked about Aussie coin detail. Picture: TikTok/cascee_

A Canadian expat has revealed the three things about Australia that have left her baffled.

Cassie Chuang has been living in Brisbane for almost a year and while she has familiarised herself with Aussie customs, there’s still some things that “surprise” her.

In a TikTok, Cassie revealed she had no idea you’re supposed to hail down a bus for it to stop.

“When I first got here I tried to take the bus. I had no idea you’re supposed to raise your hand and actually wave them down,” she said in the clip.

“When the bus came I literally stood up and it did not stop. It just went right by me and I was so embarrassed.”

Cassie said in her hometown of Vancouver the bus stops at every single stop whether you’re going to get on or not.

“So that was pretty surprising,” she added.

Cassie Chuang, who recently moved to Brisbane form Canada, said she was left embarrassed after not realising you have to hail down buses in order for them to stop. Picture: TikTok/cascee_

She said another baffling act was seeing people fish at the beach.

“You can actually fish right in front of the ocean. I would think that there aren’t a lot fish there because it’s shallow water,” she said.

“I thought it was really cool and interesting to see people standing on the beach like that fishing.”

But one of the biggest shocks for Cassie has been Aussie coins.

“They don’t make sense to me,” she said.

“The $2 coin is actually the smallest and the $1 is a bigger coin.

She was also surprised to find people fishing at the beach. Picture: TikTok/cascee_

“And if you look at the 50 cent coin, it’s massive. It’s so much bigger than all the others.”

Cassie’s clip has attracted plenty of comments with many agreeing with her about the bus issue.

“Yeah I’ve lived in Aus my whole life, but when I moved to Brisbane I thought the bus thing was really weird,” one follower wrote.

“There are several different buses that go to one bus stop, so you have to hail your bus that you want to take,” another added.

It was the size of Aussie coins that left the expat most surprised. Picture: TikTok/cascee_

She couldn’t believe how chunky Aussie coins are and how they varied they are in size. Picture: TikTok/cascee_

However, others were quick to explain the reason behind the varied sizes of Aussies coins.

“Aussie coins are designed for (visually impaired) people. Our 50c use to be round but VI peeps couldn’t distinguish them from 20c coins. The $1 & $2 use to be notes,” one follower wrote.

“The coins are different sizes for two reasons, one so blind people can identify the coins they are giving and the mineral+ gold content changes size,” another added.

Cassie was surprised at the ‘monster’ size of the 50 cent coin. Picture: TikTok/cascee_

Producer of Aussie coins, The Royal Australian Mint in Canberra, confirmed the size of the two dollar coin was based on the needs of the visually impaired community, security considerations and a desire to avoid shaped coins.

According to Precision Funding, the 50 cent coin weighs 15.55g, the $1 coin weighs 9g and the $2 coin weighs 6.6g.

“The $2 is noticeably thicker too, and being smallest but chunky makes $2 very easy to identify by feel. Distinct ridges on edge too,” one TikTok user pointed out.

When it comes to size, the 50 cent coin is 31.65mm in diameter, the $1 coin is 25mm and the $2 coin is 20.50mm.

And similarly to the $1 coin, the $2 coin was introduced to replace a paper note that wore down due to frequent usage.