Happy birthday
Kiwi dollar celebrates its 50th anniversary
Fifty years ago New Zealanders were carrying pounds, shillings and pence in their pockets, with today marking the anniversary of the introduction of decimal currency.
On this day in 1967, 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins were introduced with $1, $2, $5, $10, $20 and $100 banknotes, according to the Government’s NZ History website.
This followed about four years of planning and public consultation, with the debate including what to call the new currency. Names suggested included crown, tui, Kiwi or zeal.
In the end, NZ opted for the more conventional dollar we know today.
The aim was to simplify monetary transactions so they could be more easily divisible. Under the previous system there were 20 shillings per pound and 12 pennies per shilling, which were then divided into half pennies, which equalled 1/24 of a shilling or 1/480 of a pound.
The change was accompanied by a rigorous campaign by the banks and the Government, under Prime Minister Keith Holyoake and Finance Minister Robert Muldoon (both later Sir).
Decimal currency also coincided with the first computer being introduced into the banking sector by BNZ. Although it occupied an entire room, it was helpful in the transition to the new form of currency, said BNZ’s head of digital, Stephen Bowe.
“At the point of decimalisation people were starting to think of, ‘What happens when I want to offer discounts? What happens when I want to start thinking about different currencies?’
“With these things in pounds, shillings and pence, the maths gets super hard for the average person to handle.”
Bowe predicted that when his 4-year-old daughter grew up she would see today’s $20 notes as just as antiquated as the shilling or penny appear to us today as we move towards a “cashless society”.