[kall]

According to the Reserve Bank of NZ, over 66% of New Zealanders feel that the 5 cent piece is superfluous and pointless.

In response to that, they are removing the 5 cent piece from circulation, much as was done to the 1 and 2 cent pieces back in 1990.

Retailers are not happy. The general concensus is that prices will be rounded up at the checkout if need be.

NZ Post has not yet announced what it will do with the 45 cent stamp. Again, general concensus seems to be that our least expensive postage stamp will rise to be a 50 cent stamp.

In addition to dumping the 5, the Reserve Bank is changing the size of the 50c, the 20c, and making the 10c into a coppery-coloured one. This is apparently going to save the taxpayer 2 million dollars a year.

The people who run vending machines are livid. The cost to replace the coin parts is going to run into the hundreds of dollars per machine...which will be passed on to the customer.

What say you, savages?

[styx]

Oh well, I can use up my old 5c pieces to pay for the petrol increase . . .

[kall]

I know a guy who has the pillars of his bed filled with 5 cent pieces.

I hope he saw the news and cashes them in.

[styx]

Most people stuff their mattresses with banknotes.

I remember when they phased out 1&2c - I had about $90, and I took them to the bank at 4.25pm on the very last day. The teller showed great restraint, and even managed to smile!

[styx]

er, was there supposed to be a poll with this?

[kall]

Why yes, yes there was.

Silly me, hadn't added the code to make it show on the first post. Ta man.

(If we had gotten to page 2, it would have appeared there.)

[Bits]

"Well they were and are always falling to the bottom and hard to find, so yes get rid of the silly things. I don't carry much cash anyway. Who does these days? I must got and get my jar cashed up.

[Lina]

Well see I dunno. Think of all those kids out there who have their piggy banks full of the things... they'll have to go get them changed, and a lot of piggy banks you have to break cos the hole isnt big enough....
I remember when 1 & 2c coins were scrapped, yes good idea, we used them at school and played poker at lunchtimes... but 5c? I can't really see the point..
... I guess everything will now be .99c not .95 cos no-one will want to be seen to *gasp* give a discount of 5c

[Sparklechick]

5c pieces are those coins that you just never seem to use. I always take them out of my wallet and now have little collections of them all over the house. I guess I should round them all up and take them to the bank.

[trogg]

This is just bullshit.
Sure I end up with a few 5c pieces and other annoying change like 10c & 20c pieces from time to time but I make sure I spend them at the dairy or somewhere before I end up with a bucket load of them which means I have to make a special trip to the bank to get rid of them.

Can someone, perhaps an account, please explain to this silly old bugger how saving the taxpayer a measlerly 2 million dollars a year is going to offset all the resulting price rises (aka INFLATION) from silly things like 5c lollies and 45c stamps.
What about the cost to convert all the vending machines? Lets say that it costs $200 in parts and labour for each machine to be converted. That means that over 10,000 parking meters, cigarette machines, coin phones etc etc could be coverted before there is a net gain. Basically all the non EFTPOS machines out there.

So we save ourselves $2M in taxes but there would be inflation on cash sales, there are costs making the new dyes / moulds for the coins and a lot of the vending machines would need to be changed/re-programmed/re-labelled.

A really smart move. Thanks Reserve Bank.

[styx]

They claim that most phones and parking meters will be OK, but that Coke will have to spend $6M on upgrades . . .

[kall]

Oh poor Coke!

How ever will they afford it?

Perhaps they will just stop selling millions of cans/botles of drink to people.

*calls the Tui billboard people*

[trogg]

Yea, "most" phones and parking meters might be OK internally, but they will still require relabelling of some type and that wont be free.

And Coke Amatil is going to use $6M of it's profits to convert the machines for free and not put up their prices? YEAH RIGHT

[bella]

Its a terrible idea.

What's next? The 10 cent piece?

[Diane]

Yeah, soon it will all be notes!

How will I play 5 cent coin poker now?

Guess I'll just have to up it to 10 cent coins.

It's always the way. Nobody ever thinks of the gamblers.

Bastards!

[Diane]

LOL

It's funny how thing's can still cost something like 72 cents.. yet the 2 cent piece is no longer currency.