Mr Dollar, in the Decimal Currency Board booklet, Nga taara me nga heneti nga moni hou mo Niu Tireni ka tau mai a te Mane 10 o Hurae 1967.
New Zealand switched from imperial to decimal currency 44 years ago this Sunday on what was dubbed Decimal Currency day.
The Whitcombe's guide included a conversion chart for popular shopping items, showing, for example, a pound of butter would cost 20c instead of two shillings, a packet of jelly crystals would be 10c instead of one shilling, and 20 cigarettes would cost 25c instead of two shillings and six pence.
The New Zealand Herald of the following day reported that the Minister of Finance, Robert Muldoon, was "elated" with the transition after four years of preparation. Leaving out the right money for milk reportedly caused the most confusion. The Herald’s front page coverage also included a story about Delia, “probably the first child in New Zealand to have swallowed one of the decimal coins”.
Jo Birks, Special Collections
References
New Zealand. Decimal Currency Board. (1967). Nga taara me nga heneti nga moni hou mo Niu Tireni ka tau mai a te Mane 10 o Hurae 1967.
New Zealand Herald. (1967, July 11). New Zealanders take decimal in their stride: milk money causes most confusion, New Zealand Herald, Section 1, p.1. Auckland: Wilson and Horton. [Microfilm serial].
O’Connor, V. (1965). Whitcombe’s guide to decimal currency in New Zealand. Christchurch: Whitcombe & Tombs