Australia, Oceania Coins: World Coins & Paper Money

New Zealand, for example, has an interesting history. Australia and Oceania relied on British coins primarily for a long time. By 1933 something had to be done about the coin smuggling that resulted from a shortage of lower denomination coins. So New Zealand started minting currency from a single bank. They adopted the decimal system, something Great Britain didn’t do until much later. They did, however, introduce a distinctive coinage based on the British fractional system (similar to Pound Sterling). The new coins were of the same sizes, weights and denominations as the British coins. Bronze coins were not introduced until 1939, and were issued in 1940, in time for the Centennial of New Zealand.

 

The Coinage Act, 1933 governed the currency, coinage and legal tender in New Zealand, and meant that British coin ceased to be legal tender. New Zealand became the last of the self-governing dominions of the British Commonwealth to introduce its own coinage. Many things can affect the value of a coin from Australia or Oceania. The rarity of the coin, the coin’s metallic composition, the coin’s initial face value, its historical context, and the quality of the coin’s engraving can all affect the value of a coin from Australia or Oceania.