Because the decimal system is far easier and more sensible to work with. I came to Australia from Holland many moons ago. in Holland there was a decimal system so the first thing I had to do when I got here at 9 years old work out the money system. The system in Australia was Called pounds/shilling/pence. there were 12 Penney's in a shilling and there were 20 shillings in a pound. so you ended up with prices like 3/15/6 1/2 (3pounds/15 shilings/6pence and a half Penney. a system that starts on a base of 12 which then works up to a base of 20. it was ridiculous. addition and subtraction in these figures was cumbersome and fraught with the danger of making mistakes. Remember most people worked out money and change in their heads in those days. the decimal system is just so much simpler.
14th February 1966 dollars were introduced, the Australian pound is till legal tender, but notes and coins are worth far more as collectables than their face value.
Australia switched to decimal currency (dollars and cents) on 14 February 1966.
1966 14th of February
1966
one country that uses dollars and cents is Australia
Dollars and Cents
Australian Dollars $
1966
1.55 cents
On 14 February 1966
Australia's currency (AUD) is dollars $ and cents - 100 cents makes 1 dollar - $1 We have $5, $10,$20, $50 and $100 dollar notes and the cents are coins.
1 dollar = 100 cents 2 dollars = 200 cents 3 dollars = 300 cents . . . 35 dollars = 3,500 cents
There are $17.46 dollars in 1746 cents.
6 dollars and 43 cents
In Australia, 99 cents is worth 99 cents. 99 cents Australian would buy $1.0551 American dollars at the moment (May 22, 2011) as the Australian dollar is slightly higher than the American dollar.
You are in Australia - maybe - and have 4 coins of 50 cents each.