when did new zealand change to decimal currency
1963
title: New Zealand dollar text: £sd system, in which the pound was divided into 20 shillings and one shilling was divided into 12 pence, which by the 1950s was considered complicated and cumbersome. Switching to decimal currency had been proposed in New Zealand since the 1930s, although only in the 1950s did any plans come to fruition. In 1957, a committee was set up by the Government to investigate decimal currency. The idea fell on fertile ground, and in 1963, the Government decided to decimalise New Zealand currency. The Decimal Currency Act was passed in 1964, setting the date of transition to 10 July 1967. title: New Zealand fifty-cent coin text: on which Captain Cook became the first Briton to reach New Zealand, in October 1769. The obverse, as per all New Zealand coins, features the reigning monarch, which throughout the coin's mintage has only been Queen Elizabeth II. Following a 1959 committee, it was agreed in 1963 that New Zealand would use decimal currency. In 1964, the denominations, designs, weights and diameters of the coins were confirmed in the "Decimal Currency Act". The decimal dollar replaced the New Zealand pound (pegged to the British pound) at the rate of two dollars per pound, thus a fifty-cent coin would be a title: New Zealand pound text: 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. Initially, British and Australian coins title: New Zealand fifty-cent coin text: milling – the current version is plain. From 1967 to 1985 all New Zealand coins featured Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse. James Berry was selected to design the reverse of all of New Zealand's decimal coins, and his fifty cent design featured , the ship on which Captain Cook became the first Briton to reach New Zealand in October 1769. Mount Taranaki is seen in the distance and the legend "ENDEAVOUR" is written on the bottom. The design remains unchanged to the present day. New Zealand adopted decimal currency on 10 July 1967 and $5,000,000 title: Decimalisation text: a 1:1 basis during the brief period when both were circulating. A television campaign containing a memorable jingle, sung to the tune of "Click Go the Shears", was used to help the public to understand the changes. New Zealand decimalised on 10 July 1967, with the New Zealand dollar replacing the New Zealand pound. The conversion rates were the same as Australia's—10c to one shilling, one dollar to 10 shillings, and two dollars to one pound. Confusion was expected with twelve pence becoming ten cents, such as people expecting four cents' change from paying ten cents/one shilling for an item