Committee Split On Coin Designs

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31093, 23 June 1966, Page 1

Committee Split On Coin Designs

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, June 22. The rejection of a majority decision by the Coin Design Advisory Committee on coins for New Zealand’s decimal currency has caused a rift in the committee.

Four of the committee, including the three artistic experts, favoured a different set of coins from those finally accepted.

The set chosen by the Cabinet last week was favoured by only two members of the committee, the chairman (Mr J. N. Searle) and Mr A. Sutherland. Today the committee issued

what it' called “a clarifying statement.”

It said that after receiving the comments of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, the Design Advisory Committee told the Government it was unable to make a unanimous recommendation.

Four of the members, Mr S. B. Maclennan, Dr. A. H. McClintock, Professor H. J. Simpson and Mr E. J. Walker, preferred the following designs:

One cent.—National emblem of New Zealand (four stars), designed by Mr Milner Gray, of London. Mr Gray is a member of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee. Two cent.—Flax motif designed by Mr Eric Fraser, of London. Five cent. —Mountains and geysers, also designed by Mr Eric Fraser, of London. Ten cent.—Maori mask and manaia, designed by Mr Francis A. Shurrock, of Christchurch.

Twenty cent.—Swordfish designed by Miss Eileen Mayo, of Christchurch. Fifty cent.—Shearer, also designed by Miss Mayo. Commemorative dollar: Punga fern, also designed by Miss Mayo. They selected these coins because it had been announced by the Under-secre-tary for Finance (Mr Muldoon) that the decimal currency notes would bear pictures of birds and flowers, and they did not want duplication.

They also felt that It was useless to try to select coins from drawings. Without seeing the designs in model form, the four felt they had no basis for making a recommendation on designs. For those reasons the four at one time wanted to dissociate themselves with the final choice. At least one of the four wanted to resign from the committee, but because of their professional reputations they decided this action was not warranted. Mr Maclennan said no decision went to the Cabinet from the committee. He said

the members recognised they constituted a purely advisory body and that the Government had the last say in the designs. “It is fair to say that the Cabinet made its own decision,” he said. Nevertheless, he agreed the four members of the commit* tee felt “pretty strongly” about the final choice of coins. It is generally believed that the design drawings finally accepted were better presented, being drawn on a black background so that they stood out better. Three of the members of the advisory commiteee are artists. Professor Simpson is head of the Ham School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University. Dr. McClintock and Mr Maclennan are both trained artists, Dr. McClintock now being Parliamentary Historian and Mr Maclennan head of the National Art Gallery. Mr Walker was on the committee representing banks. Mr Searle Is a Treasury officer, and Mr Sutherland is president of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand.