By Susan Edmunds of 
New Zealand 20 dollar notes featuring the image of Queen Elizabeth II. Photo: 123RF
For most of us, seeing her face on our cash is the closest we get to the Queen.
But with Queen Elizabeth II no longer occupying her long-held position as New Zealand’s head of state, what happens now to the image of her head on our cash?
Queen Elizabeth II has appeared on the “heads” side of New Zealand coins since 1953 but did not appear on banknotes until 1967, when the Reserve Bank printed its third series of banknotes, this time decimal currency.
A Reserve Bank spokesperson says a change of sovereign makes no immediate difference to the use, acceptance or status of existing currency.
It said, in the 1970s, it wasn’t unusual to find coins up to 40 years old in change, some still bearing the images of King George V and King George VI, who died in 1936 and 1952 respectively.
That $20 bill you might have in your wallet is still just as valid as it was last week – and you’ll continue to see notes just like it for quite a while to come.
Cash will not be removed from circulation just because it shows the Queen. But it will gradually move out as notes reach the end of their life and new orders are brought in.
Generally, money is only removed from circulation when it is too damaged to continue to be used. Typically, about 20 million notes are declared unfit for circulation in a year.
In 2021, there was $1.28 billion in $20 notes circulating. That’s about 64 million notes.
New banknotes are printed in Canada, and the Reserve Bank says an order is only placed every year or two – for large numbers of notes.
The spokesperson said there were too many variables to give a clear idea of when minting coins featuring the new monarch would start but it was a few years away.
“We would naturally take steps to be ready to mint with the new effigy when available,” he said. “However when our mints start production of NZ [currency] would relate less to a change of sovereign than to our current stock levels reaching the point that they’re needed and then scheduling that with our mints.”
New Zealand one dollar coin featuring Queen Elizabeth II on the ‘heads’ side. Photo: 123RF
When coins were produced featuring King Charles, they would have the same physical characteristics as those featuring Queen Elizabeth. Convention would dictate that he would face the opposite way but that would not be confirmed until the design was approved.
“We will work with industry to help ensure machines such as self-service checkouts, vending and change machines can accept and issue them alongside the old ones. There will be no need to separate coins of the same denomination with different Sovereigns on them.”
What the new $20 note would look like would be years away and the decision would not be dealt with until the current supply of notes was closer to running out, he said.
“We manufacture these notes infrequently and do not plan to destroy stock or shorten the life of existing banknotes just because they show the Queen. This would be wasteful and poor environmental practice.”
The Reserve Bank spokesperson said, because of all that, it would probably take a few years for King Charles to start to appear on coins, and even longer for $20 notes, given the standard stock holding levels and the rate at which new currency is issued.
Old polymer notes are destroyed by being shredded and then the notes are recycled into plastic products like pot plant holders.
It could be a very long time before there aren’t any QEII notes left at all – in 2021 there was still $1.9 million in £10 notes in the hands of the public. New Zealand hasn’t used those since 1967.
This story originally appeared on Stuff
Copyright © 2022, Radio New Zealand
Queen Elizabeth II was a constant figure in many people’s lives, and having reigned for 70 years, many do not know a life without her as their queen. What changes now she has died?
At the moment the Queen died, the throne passed immediately and without ceremony to the heir, Charles, the former Prince of Wales.
Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro says the late Queen provided a “sense of continuity and stability” for New Zealand.
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