Coins

Coin History

New Zealand's early coin history is like ours.
When the country was an English colony, New Zealanders
used English shillings and pence as well as coins brought by
Dutch, French, and other European traders, just as we did
in the 17th and 18th centuries.

This is a 1941 New Zealand shilling. New Zealand began to produce
its own coins in 1933. But it used the English system of pounds,
shillings, and pence until 1967, when it switched to the
100-cents-per-dollar system.

Image shows a shilling that features a Maori warrior.

Circulating Coins

Image shows the front of a New Zealand five-dollar coin as an example.

One New Zealand dollar equals about 50 US cents, but the exchange rate changes from day to day.

The fronts of most of today's New Zealand coins show Queen Elizabeth of England. Why? Because New Zealand, though an independent country, is still part of the British Commonwealth.

King George III of England is shown on this American colonial halfpenny. He had them made for Virginia in 1774. But many colonists, who didn't agree with his policies, refused to use these coins.

This is an image of an American colonial halfpenny.

This image shows a five-cent New Zealand coin.

New Zealand had stopped making 1-cent coins in 1989, and the 5-cent coin was also discontinued in 2006. The coin featured the tuatara, a reptile from New Zealand.

The 10-cent coin was made smaller and copper-colored in 2006. It's also lighter because it's now made of plated steel. The design shows a carving of a head. New Zealand was first discovered by the Polynesians, the native people of the South Pacific islands who also settled in Hawaii. In New Zealand, these people became known as the Maori (MOW-ree) and lived in tribes like many American Indian people for hundreds of years.

This image shows a 10-cent coin from New Zealand.

This is an image of an Indian Head 5-dollar coin.

Did you know that there's more than one American coin with an American Indian head on it? Besides the well-known Indian Head nickel, there are Indian Head gold pieces. These were issued from 1908 to 1929 and came in two denominations: five dollars, and two dollars and 50 cents.

Today's 20-cent coin has a Maori carving on the front. A kiwi bird design was used until 1990. The bird on many US coins is the American eagle, usually on the back.

This image shows two 20-cent coins. One has a kiwi bird and the other, a Maori carving.

This image shows the ship on the New Zealand 50-cent coin and the ship on the American Pilgrim Tercentennary coin.

New Zealand's 50-cent coin shows the Endeavour, the boat that brought Captain Cook and the first English settlers in 1769.

The Mayflower, the ship that brought the Pilgrims to Massachusetts in 1620, is featured on the back of the Pilgrim Tercentenary commemorative half dollar of the United States. This silver coin was issued in 1920 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the pilgrims' landing.

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