| A brief history of New Zealand's currency Before the first Europeans arrived in New Zealand, Maori did not use currency. Items of value were traded by barter. When Europeans first settled here, Maori and Pakeha traded in this way as well, until coins started to appear around the 1830s. European colonists brought with them a variety of coins - mostly British, but some French, Dutch and other currencies as well. In 1849, William Hobson, New Zealand's first Governor, proclaimed that British laws should apply to New Zealand and currency became subject to the Imperial Coinage Act of 1816. Because of this Act, coins in use became legal tender. Due to a shortage of coins in 1857 and especially copper coins, 48 traders throughout New Zealand (mostly retailers such as merchants, grocers, drapers and milliners) decided to issue their own penny and halfpenny tokens, some of which circulated until 1881. Tokens were profitable for the traders because the cost of producing them was well below their face value and many were never cashed in because they were easy to lose. They were a good source of advertising too, as each token carried the business's name. A mixture of foreign coins was used from 1879 up until 1897, when the Imperial Coinage Act made British coins New Zealand's official currency. At this time, British coinage was already one of the two `common' currencies, along with Australian gold and silver coins. The first distinctively New Zealand coins were introduced in February 1933. Minted by the Royal Mint in London, these coins were the same as the weight, size and denomination of British coins. Silver coloured coins, made of an alloy of 50% silver and 50% copper, were issued from 1933, and bronze pennies and halfpennies were introduced in 1940. In 1947 the silver coloured coins were changed to an alloy of copper and nickel when silver became too costly. The changeover to decimal currency The concept of decimal currency had been discussed for a long time in New Zealand. In 1933 a changeover to decimal coinage had been suggested by the New Zealand Numismatic Society. The attraction of decimal currency was its simplicity when doing calculations. By contrast, the imperial system of currency was complicated and difficult to master. Under the imperial system, pounds were divided into twenty shillings, and subdivided further into 240 pence (making twelve pence per shilling). In 1933, decimal currency was rejected because it would have been too expensive to put in place at that time, especially as New Zealand was in the midst of the Great Depression. In 1957, a special committee was set up by the Government to take another look at the pros and cons of decimal currency, and in August 1963, the Government announced that 10 July 1967 would be `DC Day', and a massive publicity campaign was organised to smooth the shift from the imperial to decimal system. Public discussions were held as to what the new decimal unit might be called, and suggestions such as the "kiwi" and the "zeal" were debated before the "dollar" was finally settled upon. On DC Day, dollars and cents replaced pounds, shillings and pence as New Zealand's units of currency. |
| 1840 Standard gold, silver and bronze British coins, as well as other foreign coins, circulate freely in New Zealand. 1857-1881 Coin shortage means that some retailers issue their own tokens. 1897 British coinage becomes New Zealand's official currency. 1914 Gradual withdrawal of gold coin from circulation. 1933 New Zealand introduces its own coinage. 1934 Reserve Bank of New Zealand issues first series of bank notes. 1935 British coinage ceases to be legal tender in New Zealand. 1940 Second series of bank notes introduced. 1940 Bronze coins (penny and halfpenny) issued for the first time. 1947 Cupro-nickel coins first appear in circulation, replacing silver coins. 1967 Change to decimal currency. Third series of bank notes issued. 1981-1983 Fourth series of bank notes issued. 1989 Stopped issuing 1c and 2c coins. Demonetised in April 1990. 1990 New Maori carving 20 cent coin issued. 1991 $1 and $2 coins issued. $1 and $2 notes demonetised in April 1993. 1992-1993 Fifth series of bank notes issued, bearing first new designs since 1967. 1999-2000 Sixth series of bank notes issued in polymer. |
| Currency Timeline |
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