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Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021

Central bank functions - Currency

153: Legal tender: coins

You could also call this:

"Paying with coins: what you need to know"

Illustration for Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021

You can use coins as legal tender to pay for things. This means you can pay with coins and the other person has to accept them. The amount you can pay with coins depends on the type of coin. You can pay any amount with coins worth $10 or more. You can pay up to $100 with coins worth $1 or more but less than $10. You can pay up to $10 with coins worth 50 cents or more but less than $1. You can pay up to $5 with coins worth less than 50 cents. The coins must be ones that have not been called in, which means they are still valid. You can find more information about this by looking at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS289830.

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Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection
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Part 3Central bank functions
Currency

153Legal tender: coins

  1. A tender of payment of money, to the extent that it is made in coins issued, or treated as issued, under this Act is legal tender,—

  2. in the case of coins of a denomination of $10 or more, for the payment of any amount:
    1. in the case of coins of a denomination of $1 or more but less than $10, for the payment of any amount not exceeding $100:
      1. in the case of coins of a denomination of 50 cents or more, but less than $1, for the payment of any amount not exceeding $10:
        1. in the case of any coins of a denomination of less than 50 cents, for the payment of any amount not exceeding $5.

          1. The reference to coins in this section does not include coins that have been called in.

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