MONEY VALUES

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22470, 4 January 1943, Page 4

MONEY VALUES

Three Kinds Of Currency Soldiers Bewildered From the Official War Correspondent with the N.Z.E.F. SOUTH PACIFIC BASE, Dec. 12. New Zealanders here often find themselves trying to think in terms of three different kinds of currency at once. Several of them have tied themselves into hopeless knots over the equivalent values of the New Zealand pound, the American dollar and the French franc. Since they are on overseas rates, the troops are paid on a sterling basis, which means that each pound they receive is worth nearly 25/- in New Zealand money. But they receive theii pay in dollars —four of them to the pound. Some of them have had opportunity to make purchases in civilian shops, and there they often get a handful of French franc notes in. change. Forty francs are worth a dollar.

So the New Zealand soldier, still thinking by habit in terms of pounds shillings and pence, but passing dollars over the counter and getting his change in yet another currency, usually gives up scratching his head over three-dimensional mental arithmetic, and takes the shopkeeper’s word for it. Opportunity was given the men while they were still aboard ship to convert into dollars what New Zealand money they possessed, up to a maximum of £2 and at the rate of four dollars to the pound. When thev landed they found a ready market for any silver coins and even banknotes which still remained in their pockets. The reason lay in the average American soldier’s never-ending quest for souvenirs. Americans paid our men full prices for New Zealand coins, and often 10/- and £1 notes, to show “the home folks.” They even called in force at the New Zealand base pay office and offered to buy. Dollars which the New Zealanders save out of their pay—and it is easy to save here —may be remitted home through the pay office. Since each dollar is payable in New Zealand at rhe rate of 6/1, this arrangement is distinctly to their advantage.