barry whiteside : fiji ’ s new flora and fauna banknotes and coins welcome address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the unveiling of fiji ’ s new design flora and fauna banknotes and coins, lami, 12 december 2012. * * * your excellency, the president of fiji, ratu epeli nailatikau first lady, adi koila nailatikau the prime minister and minister for finance, commodore voreqe bainimarama ministers members of the diplomatic corps board directors of the reserve bank of fiji distinguished guests management and staff of the reserve bank ladies and gentlemen bula vinaka and a very warm welcome to you all on this very special occasion. i say “ special ” because it is extremely rare that we get to change the designs on all our currency denominations at one time! today, we will unveil fiji ’ s new flora and fauna banknotes and coins, a new $ 2 coin to replace the $ 2 note and, for the first time, a banknote using the polymer ( plastic ) substrate. these are the biggest currency design changes the reserve bank has undertaken in recent times and we are indeed honoured that you could be here with us today to celebrate this milestone. while we are all eager to unveil our new currency and see what the response is, please allow me to take you back in time for just a few moments and reminisce a little over the old currency with which many of us were raised. for the younger generation, this is a piece of history that i wish to share with you. our first truly fijian currency was introduced 78 years ago in january 1934, emulating the pounds, shillings and pence system of our british colonial period. it took us 35 years to realise that a decimal system was much easier on the brain and it was in january 1969, that we made the changeover to the present decimal currency, or dollars and cents. those of us old enough will recall that we started with the 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cent coins and 50 cent, $ 1, $ 5, $ 10 and $ 20 notes. over the years as transaction patterns and volumes changed we adapted by changing our notes and coins structure. in 1970, the 50 cent note was coined. in 1995, we coined the $ 1 note and introduced a higher $ 50 note denomination. 12 years later in 2007, we introduced the $ 100 note which is currently

the recommendations in march 2011 and it was then left to the technical committee to work with our suppliers to produce the final products. at this point, i would just like to add that it is only prudent to undertake these structural developments over time to achieve cost efficiencies where possible given the rising cost of metals and raw materials required to produce currency. a $ 2 coin is estimated to yield an average of 15 years in circulation compared to the current $ 2 banknote which only yields less than a year ’ s circulation life due to its lack of durability contributed by the high level of usage. polymer banknotes also have their own benefits in terms of durability under normal conditions, lasting approximately two and a half times longer than paper banknotes but costing approximately 1. 5 times more. this means that we will be ordering fewer notes thereby saving costs for the nation. ladies and gentlemen, the introduction of our first polymer banknote should not be necessarily seen as a sign of future changes. we are quite pleased with the performance of our higher denomination paper substrate banknotes which are wearing well in circulation given our geography, climate conditions and cash handling practices. these paper banknote bis central bankers ’ speeches substrates have also been strengthened with a platinum coating giving them extra durability. we should therefore see overall improvements in banknote quality with the new series. at this point let me acknowledge the presence here today of executives and technicians representing our banknote and coin suppliers. from de la rue currency, we welcome tim jones, brooke banks, gill sugg, dani douglas, and artist and senior designer luis morris. during the early design stages, brooke and luis were in fiji and worked closely with both the design and technical committees. luis ’ drawings are truly special. from royal canadian mint, we welcome ian bennett, beverly lepine, peter ho, and jeff hanke. as with the notes, the artwork on the coins is equally special. thank you all for accepting our invitation and travelling the long distance to celebrate this milestone with us. we are truly appreciative of the dedicated support and goodwill you have shown us during our collaboration towards what is a unique set of currency notes and coins. i also take this opportunity to thank those who have provided their rare, unique photographs and images of the flora and fauna we have used on our new notes and coins, on our educational and promotional materials, and on our collector ’ s items. thank you to : • dr. william beckon and