NZ Moving To Digital Currency

The value of a the currency of a country is loosely and indirectly linked to the gross national product (GNP) of that country.

OK to have a digital currency, but definitely not on the same basis as Bitcoin or other similar digital currencies, where the value of the currency is almost entirely speculative, with no basis in real value.

If that were the case, there remains the strong possibility that the superannuation life savings of most of the population would be under the severe risk of being entirely wiped out, with unscrupulous international market manipulation.
As a possible result, there would be the same sort of social dislocation that happened in Germany in 1922, that led to the rise of the Nazi party, and the subsequent tragedy of huge loss of life in wartime.

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So far as the existing notes and coins are concerned, they would find their own market value as collectors' pieces, expressed in the new digital currency, with the possibility of wild swings in value, if that digital currency is not properly set up with a strong basis to real values, such as gold, real estate values, the cost of labor, or the GNP as noted above.

I think if a country was to get rid of physical currency from a collectors point of view. there would be a lot of interest in the short term to collect and most people would put aside some coins for the kids, Like most people have a crumpled dollar bill in the bottom of a jewelry box somewhere. But withing 5 to 10 years I think it would be a case of out of sight out of mind and the bottom will really fall out of the collectors market and there will be very few new collectors in years to come.

Hard to say - Hong Kong doesn't have much in the way of coins any more does it? But I thought collecting was still reasonably popular there.

First off, New Zealand is not going to abandon cash anytime soon. Their survey results indicate New Zealanders are more reliant on cash than citizens of other nations, which are much closer to becoming cashless. RBNZ press release, 7th July 2021. New Zealand will be a follower, not a leader, in becoming cashless.

Nevertheless, the question of "what will happen to coin collecting in a cashless society" is a valid one. My working hypothesis is that coin values will decline, as a result of simple supply and demand: the supply will remain more or less the same, but there will be fewer and fewer collectors. And there will be fewer collectors because nobody will be picking up coins and handling them on a daily basis, which is where the majority of coin collectors get their "Aha! moment" when they realise they want to collect coins.


It hasn't happened yet, because modern coins are still around to provide that continuum of history - and it's that 2500-year continuum that is one of the things that makes me a modern-mediaeval-ancient coin generalist. But once coins are disconnected from everyday society and become artifacts of bygone days, then all coins will suffer the same decline in interest. Coin collecting can and often does create an interest in history; but an interest in history rarely creates a coin collector - especially when the guardians of history in museums and universities are more and more becoming of the "archaeologist mindset" who oppose coin collecting on ethical grounds, seeing coin collectors as part of The Collector Problem which is fuelling the looting and vandalizing of archaeological sites.

We are already seeing this social decline in interest with postage stamps. Postage stamps are dying out; most correspondence that remains physical rather than electronic no longer carries stamps. The only stamps I receive in the mail are on letters sent by stamp dealers who have mint stock to burn through while they still can, and from clubs and charities who buy stamps from those dealers at a discount. Stamps are no longer in everyone's face every day, and so collecting is seeing a decline, especially with the younger generation who've never received or seen a postage stamp in the wild.

Or consider phonecard collecting, which has already mostly died out; a brief flash-in-the-pan hobby that bloomed for the short few decades when phonecards were a daily experience for many people, but which has almost completely disappeared now that they've stopped making phonecards - everybody's got mobile phones and the few remaining payphones all take credit cards. A coin club I'm a member of used to be called the Redcliffe Coin & Phonecard Club; "& Phonecard" was an anachronism held on to for a decade before they changed the name to "Redcliffe Numismatic Society" a couple of years ago, but none of their members still collected phonecards.

Coin collecting will take longer to die out, simply because coins have been part of the fabric of civilization for so long. But die out, it eventually will. Assuming the world doesn't fall into a New Dark Age, of course.

NZ will not do away with credit, it is redefining the financial transaction and making it more streamless by eliminating one cog in the process(physical cash) a lot of people already just use a credit/debit card and haven't touched physical cash for years I'm definitely one of those apart from my coin/note collection I haven't touched cash for over a decade.
I watched first reading on our parliamentry channel last week so this is closer than everyone thinks. If it goes to a referendum nzders will highly likely say no.
I have some phone cards.

This is a fascinating read. I really enjoy the insight and observations on this relevant topic, and it is pertinent to just about every corner of society.

Also cash money (Actual notes and coins) make up just 5% of all the so called money in circulation. About $7 billion in coins and notes ($6 billion in notes, mostly $20 and now $50) and about $850 million in coins (Around $600 billion in $1 and $2 and rest in 10c, 20c and 50c).

The rest is bonds, bank transfers and money that exists only on paper and in cyberspace. Bullion reserves here are low too (A few hundred mil worth of gold).

The size of our economy is around $100 - $150 billion most of the time (NZ dollaz which is about 70 cents USA). Even myself, my assets are worth around $500k and I have $150k worth of debt, yet liquid cash I would have difficulty ponying up $5k. You do the maths.

I would hate this sort of thing. I ALWAYS pay in cash. If I do make an online purchase I do it with a borrowed card and I pay the owner in cash.