New Coins for New Zealand

It’s been forty years since New Zealand changed its currency to the present day money and now we are doing it again. We went from shillings and pounds in the sixties to dollars and cents, from dollar notes to dollar coins in the eighties, no one or two cent pieces in the nineties and now we have no five cent coins either and all the coinage has been updated and modernized to reflect the changes in our society.

The new coins are up to 60% lighter than the old ones and are smaller in size. They will retain the same original designs on the coins and the only major difference will be for the 10 cent coin which is copper coloured. The one and two dollar coins will remain the same. The Reserve Bank has consulted with several of the communities who would be directly affected by the changes and after much discussion and numerous consultations about the changes; the outcome is set to be a success.

The old coins will no longer be legal tender as at the 1st November, 2006. Some retailers are already refusing the old coins as it is too time consuming working with both sets of coins. This is perfectly acceptable as long as the customers have been made aware of this fact and there is signage stating that this is so. There have been fervent discussions about the coinage and dairy owners are not happy that there will no longer be five cent coins. Others are concerned it will just mean that the prices will increase and the cost of living will just go up because of it. The Retailer’s Association concerned that it will have an adverse effect on the profit margins of small business owners. However, you will be able to redeem any coins at the Reserve Bank for the face value of the coin.

There has been much activity caused by this change, vending machines, game machines, pool tables, juke boxes, laundromats, parking meters and the pokies have all had to be modified to cater for the new coins. For the game machines at Timezone, it takes approximately twenty minutes for each machine to be altered, so it has been a major task for those involved. This new money gives off a magnetic signal so as new machines come into being, this will be an important feature and make life easier for tellers and other people who handle money in large quantities. Eventually when we all get used to them and they are the only coins in use, life ought to be easier.

All the old coins are being sold to Korea to be melted down and could possibly end up as coins for countries such as Australia. The new coins are cheaper to produce than the old ones were and should save the taxpayer around two million annually.