Shops and cafes urged to accept old coins [audio report]

The new 50c, 20c and 10c coins introduced today.

Shops and cafes are being urged to accept old coins being phased out from today after a Wellington retailer said it would only take the new coins from now on.

The Retailers Association urged all its members to help push the old 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c coins out of circulation.

New smaller 50c, 20c and 10c pieces were released today by the Reserve Bank and the old ones are being phased out over the next three months but remain legal tender until then.

One Wellington cafe reportedly put up a sign saying it would not accept the old coins from today and suggesting people go to the bank to get the new currency.

A Reserve Bank spokeswoman said retailers had the right not to accept the old coins from today as long as they advertised the fact they were doing so.

But Retailers Association chief executive John Albertson said though he hadn't discussed the issue with retailers, he believed the coins should be accepted to speed up the process of getting rid of them.

"From our point of view, the quicker they are out of circulation the better. The only way that is going to be achieved is for people to accept them and get them off to the bank," Mr Albertson said.

The old, larger coins were a hangover from the pre-decimal system, the same size as the half-crown and the florin. The old 50-cent piece was one of the largest coins in the world.

Smaller small change made sense for the blind, Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind spokeswoman Mary Schnackenberg said.

"I dream of the day when we live in a cashless society, but this is about as good as it is going to get," she said.

Five cent pieces have been phased out completely because of their diminished value over the past few years.

The Reserve Bank said the new lighter coins, made by the Royal Canadian Mint, were introduced because of the high cost of making the old ones.

Chief executive of the Canadian mint Ian Bennett said soaring prices of metals were affecting the business. "They are wreaking havoc. They are completely changing the ground rules."

Low-value coins made from nickel and copper were beginning to cost more to make than their face value was worth -- a situation currently being faced by the American penny.

The adoption of the high-tech currency showed New Zealand as an innovative and change-friendly place, Mr Bennett said.

"It is another example of how New Zealand is leading the way. This is something that is exceedingly difficult to do somewhere like North America."

- NZPA