Money in New Zealand

Here in New Zealand I've found that a couple of angles related to the currency are unique and different, so I thought I'd mention them. (By the way, for a comparison, the New Zealand dollar has been sliding between Canadian $0.75 and $0.80, and is worth a cent or two more in US dollars.)

One interesting feature is that "rounding" is used here. This means that every transaction is rounded to the closest ten cents. This does not affect the prices posted for items, as you will see prices such as $29.98, etc.

But, the smallest coin is a ten cent coin, and all transactions end with a zero.

Here is a sample receipt from a grocery store, where you can see it has been rounded down to the nearest ten cents:

Another interesting feature of money is that the paper currency is made with clear plastic "windows". Here is a photo of three common bills, and you can see the oval windows. I've placed the coins - two dollars, one dollar, 50 cents, 20 cents and 10 cents on the bills to hold them flat. In this photo, I've placed the bills next to some words "Hi!" which are slid under the bills in the photo that follows after this one:

In this photo, I've slid the bills to the right, and you can see the handwritten "Hi!" in the window of each bill.

A few prices here of typical items include these:

Gasoline: Currently it is NZ$2.04 per litre (which is about Canadian $1.53 per litre, or US $5.80 per gallon). Last week gasoline had spiked to NZ$2.21 per litre.

Milk: We buy it in 3 litre jugs for NZ$5.49. (This is about Canadian $7.32 for four litres, or US $6.90 for a gallon.)

Bread: About NZ$3.59 for a loaf of whole wheat. (That is about Canadian $2.75, or US $2.90.)

Bananas: About NZ$2.98 for a kilo of bananas. (That is just over Canadian $1.00 per pound and a bit more in the US.)