New Zealand pound

The pound (symbol £, or NZ£ for distinction) was the currency of New Zealand from 1840 until 1967, when it was replaced by the New Zealand dollar.

New Zealand pound
Denominations
Subunit
 ​1⁄20shilling
 ​1⁄240penny
Symbol£
 shillings
 pennyd
Banknotes10s, £1, £5, £10, £50
Coins
 Freq. used​1⁄2d, 1d, 3d, 6d, 1s, 2s, ​2 1⁄2s
 Rarely used5s
Demographics
User(s)New Zealand, Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau
Issuance
Central bankReserve Bank of New Zealand
 Websitewww.rbnz.govt.nz
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

Like the British pound, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (symbol s) each of 12 pence (symbol d). As a result of the great depression of the early 1930s, the New Zealand agricultural export market to the UK was badly affected. The Australian banks, which controlled the New Zealand exchanges with London, decided to devalue the New Zealand pound in relation to sterling in the UK. By 1933, the New Zealand pound had fallen to a value of only 16 shillings sterling. In 1948 however, it was once again restored to its original sterling value. In 1967, New Zealand decimalised its currency, replacing the pound with the dollar at a rate of $2 = £1 (or $1 = 10s). In November of that year, the pound sterling devalued, and New Zealand used this as an opportunity to re-align its new dollar to parity with the Australian dollar. For a more general view of history in the wider region, see History of pound sterling in Oceania.

Coins

Initially, British and Australian coins circulated in New Zealand. The devaluation of the New Zealand pound relative to sterling in the 1930s led to the issue of distinct New Zealand coins in 1933, in denominations of 3d, 6d, 1s, 2s (the florin) and 2½s (the half-crown), minted in 50% silver until 1946 and in cupro-nickel from 1947. In 1940, bronze ½d and 1d coins were introduced. All these denominations were the same size and weight as their equivalents in the Australian and UK coinage (although Australia never minted the half-crown). When the UK introduced the nickel-brass twelve sided threepenny bit, New Zealand continued to use the smaller silver coin until decimalisation in 1967.

Reverse ImageValueEquivalent in cents (c)Technical ParametersDescriptionDate of
DiameterThicknessMassCompositionEdgeObverseReverseIssueWithdrawal
​1⁄2d (half penny) 0.4167c 26 mm 5.7 g Bronze Plain King George VI (1940–52)
Queen Elizabeth II (1953–67)		 A Māori hei-tiki (neck pendant) with ornamental tukutuku patterns on each side 1940
1d (one penny) 0.8333c 31 mm 9.5 g A tui perched in a setting of yellow kowhai blossoms
3d (three pence) 2.5c 16 mm 1.4 g 50% silver (1933–1946)
Cupronickel (1947–1967)		 Plain King George V (1933–1936)
King George VI (1937–1952)
Queen Elizabeth II (1953–1967)		 Two carved patu (Maori weapons) crossed with lanyards or throngs attached, with “3d” between their blades 1933
6d (six pence) 5c 19 mm 2.9 g Continuously milled A huia perched on a branch 31 October 20061
1s (one shilling) 10c 23 mm 5.7 g A figure of a Maori warrior in warlike attitude carrying a taiaha
2s (2 shillings, a.k.a. one "florin") 20c 28.5 mm 11.3 g A kiwi facing left
​2 1⁄2s (​2 1⁄2 shillings, or 2s 6d, a.k.a. 2 shillings 6 pence, or one "half crown") 25c 32 mm 14.1 g Arms of New Zealand on a background of Māori carvings.
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Notes:

  1. The sixpence, shilling, and florin (2 shilling), although rarely seen in circulation, remained legal tender as late as 2006, being used as the identical size and value of its decimal successors: the 5c (cents), 10c, and 20c coins respectively. They were demonetised on 31 October 2006, when the 5c coin and the original 10c and 20c coins were withdrawn from circulation.

Commemorative crowns (full crowns, or five shillings, or two half crowns) were minted in 1935, 1949, and 1953 for the Treaty of Waitangi, a royal visit, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, respectively.

Banknotes

Until 1934, private trading banks issued notes. The first bank notes were issued in New Zealand in March 1840 by the Union Bank of Australia at Britannia, now Wellington, then the New Zealand Banking Company followed in September 1840 at Kororareka, now Russell. These banks issued notes in New Zealand:

Between 1852 and 1856, the Colonial Bank of Issue was the only banknote issuing body. Public distrust of these notes soon led to their redemption with Union Bank notes. The discovery of gold in 1861 encouraged competing banks into New Zealand leading to a variety of note issue. By 1924, public demand for convenience in usage led to the six remaining issuing banks agreeing a "Uniform" standard size and colour for each denomination.

When the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was established on 1 August 1934 by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1933, it became the sole issuer of notes.[1] This government agency introduced notes for 10s, £1, £5 and £50. In 1940, £10 notes were added. Only two series of £1 notes were printed. The first (1934–40) featured the portrait of Matutaera Te Pukepuke Te Paue Te Karato Te-a-Pōtatau Tāwhiao, the second (1940–67) featured Captain James Cook.

The private trading banks that issued the NZ pound between 1840 and 1934, and the Reserve Bank until 1967.

Notes in circulation when the dollar was introduced were:

  • 10 shillings ($1)
  • 1 pound ($2)
  • 5 pounds ($10)
  • 10 pounds ($20)
  • 50 pounds ($100)

Present status

Coins and uncancelled notes issued by the six private trading banks operating in 1934 as well as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand are still redeemable at the RBNZ offices in Wellington. The RBNZ has an obligation to redeem private bank notes. Under the 1933 Reserve Bank Act the privately held gold was confiscated and paid for in RBNZ banknotes.

In all cases, the currency's value to collectors is now far higher than its face value, due to its rarity. A prime example is a first issue Union Bank £1 from the 1840s returned to New Zealand in 1934, for redemption at face value, by its owner in the United States. Today a similar note would be valued in excess of £10,000 sterling. £50 notes of the Reserve Bank are also extremely rare and fetch a high price from collectors. The note signed by Chief Cashier T. P. Hanna in uncirculated condition could fetch as high as NZ$25,000 according to the premier value listing for New Zealand notes and coins (some other lesser valued notes signed by Hanna exist).

Notes
  1. Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "New Zealand". The Banknote Book. San Francisco: www.BanknoteNews.com.

References
  • Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
  • Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
  • Hawke, G.R., "The Making of New Zealand: an Economic History" (1985)
  • Grant. Anthony W., "Premier: the New Zealand Coin and Banknote Catalogue" 2011
Preceded by:
No modern predecessor		 Currency of New Zealand
1840 – 9 July 1967		 Succeeded by:
New Zealand dollar
Reason: decimalisation
Ratio: 2 dollars = 1 pound
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