$80 million in old change still on the loose

Alan Boaden among old coins at the Reserve Bank in Wellington. Picture / Mark Mitchell

More than $80 million worth of old coins remain in circulation but, after midnight today, there will be no point taking even 5c to a shop.

Reserve Bank silver project manager Alan Boaden said yesterday that of the more than one billion 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins put into circulation since the introduction of the decimal currency in 1967, about 760 million remained unaccounted for. $575,000 of silver coins have been handed in.

The coins have been superseded by new-look replacements introduced on July 31.

Although shopkeepers will no longer accept the old coins after today, most of the major trading banks will continue to accept them at least until the end of the year. They will, however, review this process in the new year.

Mr Boaden said people could always take old coins to the Reserve Bank. "We still get half crowns in sometimes. No one will lose any money."

The transition period had been kept short because that was what retailers and banks had wanted during consultations, especially as "handling two sets of coins is expensive".

Mr Boaden said most European countries had had a transition period of three months when they introduced the euro.

New Zealand Retailers Association chief executive John Albertson agreed it would be easier for retailers to deal with less coinage and advised retailers not to accept the old coins from tomorrow.

"I think the industry has done well with the change. I haven't had any significant complaints. It has been difficult but the transition has been reasonably smooth."

The $80 million in missing coins is enough to buy a new 737 airliner and weighs as much as 667 elephants.

Not that they are likely to buy too much, as Mr Albertson believed most of the old coins were likely to be inside couches, down drains and in jars.

What old coins are recovered will be shipped to Korea to be melted down. Afterward, they will probably be Australia-bound, as Australia's coins have the same metal composition.


THE OLD MONEY

* Coins still in circulation: 762 million.

* Value: $80 million.

* Weight: 4000 tonnes.