|
The New Zealand five-cent coin was the lowest denomination coin of the New Zealand dollar from 1990 to 2006. The five-cent coin was introduced when the New Zealand dollar was introduced on 10 July 1967, replacing the New Zealand sixpence coin, which - having exactly the same dimensions - remained legal tender and in parallel use.
Coins issued in 1970 circulated for 36 years before they were demonetised on 1 November 2006. |
|
| Obverse | |
|---|
Diademed and draped bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (effigy known as the "Second portrait", by Arnold Machin); around, the monarch's legend ELIZABETH II NEW ZEALAND; below, the date 1970. |
|
|
| Reverse | |
|---|
The reverse design of the coin depicts the last surviving member of an otherwise extinct family of reptiles, the tuatara (a lizard-like reptile), native only to New Zealand, shown sitting on a coastal rock. Above in the background, a gull flying.
Below, the denomination 5 [cents].
The designer's initials, JB (for [Reginald George] James Berry) are to the left of the lizard's tail. |
|
|
| Edge | Milled | Edge Inscription | None |
|
| Notes | Krause and other catalogues list regular circulation mintage at 11,202,000, which is at variance with the number 11,152,000 provided by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. |
|---|
|
Search for New Zealand: Five Cents 1970 on eBay 