NO LONGER LEGAL TENDER

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21386, 31 January 1935, Page 11

NO LONGER LEGAL TENDER

BRITISH COINS IN DOMINION MANY STILL IN CIRCULATION British coin, which recently has become something of a rarity in the pockets of the public, will cease to be legal tender after to-morrow. This does not mean that it will cease to have any value, but merely that it will not be usable if one party to a transaction dees not want to accept it. Trading bank notes are not legal tender in New Zealand, so that any larger amount than £2 must, if the creditor insists, be paid by the debtor in Reserve Bank notes. Amounts up to £2 may be tendered in New Zealand coinage, and amounts of up to a shilling in copper.

Cheques Not Legal Though they are not legal tender, cheques are the main method of transfer of money from one person to another in New Zealand. Anyone may refuse to accept a cheque and demand payment in notes for any amount. In the legal profession, it is the usual custom on settlement of large amounts such as are involved in the repayment of a mortgage, to use cheques signed by a bank. If a creditor refuses to accept British coinage after Friday, the holder may take it to a bank and have it exchanged for New Zealand coinage, but it is very improbable that any creditor would adopt this course, and if he did so, would more than likely be doing his best to make petty trouble for his debtor. If the parties agree, British coinage may still be used in ordinary transactions, and it is likely that it will continue to be so used for many years to come. Bank officials estimate that in spite of the sequestration of every British coin that has come into their hands since the issue of the new Dominion coinage, there is still up to 10 per cent of British coinage amongst the silver in circulation in New Zealand. It is not likely that it will ever disappear, because travellers will always be arriving with British coinage in their pockets. • An Illicit Trade When the value of New Zealand currency was lowered, a healthy but illicit export trade in British coinage was started, but with the limited amount now available, and the keen surveillance of the Customs Department, this trade has died a natural death. The careful operator who was able to smuggle British coins out of the country received a good premium on them, but the heavy penalties and above all the penalty of confiscation of any coinage discovered while being smuggled made the business a very risky one, likely to appeal only to the most daring. There is no need for the man with a British coin in his pocket to become alarmed by its ceasing to be legal tender after to-morrow. It is hardly likely that anyone he offers it to subsequently will refuse to give him its face value.