New Zealand dollar

The New Zealand dollar (Māori: tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand including 2 freely associated states of New Zealand (Cook Islands and Niue), 2 dependent territories of New Zealand (Ross Dependency and Tokelau) and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands.

Its base unit is the dollar, each divided into 100 cents. Internationally, the abbreviations "$NZ" or "NZ$" are used when necessary to distinguish it from other currencies, particularly the Australian dollar. The dollar was introduced in 1967, replacing New Zealand pound.

Currently, it consists of five coins and five banknotes with the smallest being the 10-cent coin; smaller denominations have been discontinued due to inflation and production costs. 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. It is the tenth most traded currency in the world, representing 2.1% of global foreign exchange market daily turnover in 2019.

History

Introduction

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. 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.

Switching to decimal currency had been proposed in New Zealand since the 1930s, although only in the 1950s did any plans come to fruition.