What are your old New Zealand coins & banknotes worth?
Check out the information on this page.

If you've got a collection of old New Zealand coins and/or banknotes lying around it may be time to get them out and see if you have anything of value. This page is a general guide to help identify areas of value in New Zealand coins and banknotes for those with limited knowledge on the subject.

General factors affecting the value of old coins and banknotes

Scarcity:

• How many were minted - the lower the mintage the higher the value is likely to be.
• Mintages for New Zealand pre decimal coins can be found on our NZ Coin Mintages page. 

Condition:

• The amount of wear and tear that has taken place.
• The less a coin or banknote has been circulated the better the condition and the more the value. 

Metallic content with coins:

• Is it bullion or base metal? 
• Gold, silver coins especially gold have an immediate bullion value.
• These are generally more sort after and tend to have a higher value than those composed of other base metals or alloys

Variations:

• Mistakes known as errors or flaws. 
• Errors, flaws occur in coins and banknotes during minting/printing and are more valuable as there are usually less of them.

Old New Zealand Currency Tip

All your old New Zealand currency, coins, banknotes have a value. The Reserve Bank in Wellington will always pay face value for them. You just download a form from their website, fill it out and send it along with your collection and they will pay you for it. 

But that is probably the least amount your coins and banknotes are worth.

So before you pack them up and send them off at face value take them to your local coin dealer for an appraisal. In most cases you will be pleasantly surprised at how much more than face value your old coins and banknotes are worth.

Sovereigns and Half Sovereigns are gold!  

Kiwis have a long standing love affair with these small 'fall through the cracks' gold coins. The most common ones have St George slaying a dragon on the reverse. They can be found in coin lots, in jewellery boxes, in the back of drawers etc... I have even found one in someones box of old stamps. But it's not Sovereigns alone that may be in your collection. There are many other collectable gold coins. Krugerrands from South Africa and American Gold Eagles are also favourites with collectors and investors.

All old New Zealand silver coins 1933 to 1946 consist of 50% silver!

Take the time to go through your old New Zealand silver coins and check the dates. You may be surprised at just how many have a silver content and depending on condition may be worth a lot more.

Most old New Zealand banknotes in just average condition retail well above face value!

Some of the early New Zealand Reserve Bank banknotes 1934-1940 can sell for 100's of dollars and some in the 1000's. Even the later uncirculated banknotes can retail for 100's of dollars.

Proof silver coins and coin sets

Most of these coins and coin sets are decimal. They are found in various types of presentation cases and should have an information brochure enclosed which is a Certificate of Authenticity with details of the coin/s and their composition. There are many of these silver proof coins and sets around. They are limited editions with various mintage numbers. Some have large mintages such as 20,000 while others may be only 1000 or so giving them a greater value. While some of the more common ones may not retail much above silver value many are way above that.

Coin errors and flaws

Coin minting leads to many small and not so small errors. Mostly these are of limited numbers and so make the coin more valuable. Here are some of the more well known ones to watch our for in your collection:

• ​1967 Two Cent Bahama Mule
• 1946 'Flatback' Florin
• 1942 'Broken Back' Shilling
• 1957 'Strapless' Sixpence​​

• ​1956 'Strapless' Penny
• 1956 'Strapless' Threepence
• 1942 'One Dot' Threepence
• 1965 'Broken Wing' Sixpence

More information on the above and other New Zealand coin errors including the decimal coins can be found at: nz coin errors

Coins of more value worth finding in your collection

For coins of more value it is worth checking out low mintage years as the coins of those years will invariably be of more value. Some like the iconic 'Waitangi Crown' with it's 1128 mintage is worth 1000,s of dollars but a much easier to find example is the 1935 Threepence, with a mintage of just 40,000. Depending on condition it can be worth 100's of dollars. Watch out for these:

• 1935 Waitangi Crown
• 1949 Crown
• 1935 Threepence
• 1940 Centennial Half Crown

• 1944 Half Crown
• 1936 Florin
• 1942 Shilling
• ​1942 Sixpence

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