The idea fell on fertile ground, and in 1963, the Government decided to decimalise New Zealand currency. In 1957, a committee was set up by the Government to investigate decimal currency. Switching to decimal currency had been proposed in New Zealand since the 1930s, although only in the 1950s did any plans come to fruition. The pound used the £sd system, in which the pound was divided into 20 shillings and one shilling was divided into 12 pence, a system which by the 1950s was considered complicated and cumbersome.
Prior to the introduction of the New Zealand dollar in 1967, the New Zealand pound was the currency of New Zealand, which had been distinct from the pound sterling since 1933. It is the tenth most traded currency in the world, representing 2.1% of global foreign exchange market daily turnover in 2019. In the context of currency trading, the New Zealand dollar is sometimes informally called the "Kiwi" or "Kiwi dollar", since the flightless bird, the kiwi, is depicted on its one-dollar coin. Altogether it has five coins and five banknotes with the smallest being the 10-cent coin smaller denominations have been discontinued due to inflation and production costs. Introduced in 1967, the dollar is subdivided into 100 cents. Within New Zealand, it is almost always abbreviated with the dollar sign ($), with "NZ$" sometimes used to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. The New Zealand dollar ( Māori: tāra o Aotearoa sign: $, NZ$ code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Primarily Royal Canadian Mint and Royal Mint (UK), others previouslyĬook Islands dollar, Niue dollar and Pitcairn Islands dollar (all at par) Note Printing Australia (provides base polymer note material)