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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 1973 circulated for 33 years before they were demonetised on 1 November 2006. |
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| Obverse | |
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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 1973. |
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| Reverse | |
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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. |
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| Edge | Milled | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Notes | Krause catalogues list regular mintage of 4,038,999 plus 8,000 proofs. It also says that this is "the second hardest date to find after 2004".
Reserve Bank of New Zealand reports regular mintage of 4,043,000. |
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