New Zealand twenty-cent coin pegged to the British pound, was changed to a decimal dollar at a rate of two dollars to a pound. Therefore, 20 cents was worth a tenth of a pound. The 20-cent coin replaced the florin coin which had been worth two shillings, or a tenth of a pound. Like the florin, the new 20-cent coin was made of cupronickel, 28.58 mm in diameter, 11.31 grams in weight, and had 100% edge milling. The 20-cent coin retained the presence of a kiwi on the reverse of the florin, albeit in a different design. The original obverses of 20-cent coins depicted
Two pounds (British coin) effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the image of a sailing ship similar to that previously used on the reverse of the pre-decimal halfpenny piece. The inscription on the reverse read with an edge inscription based on the one pound coin which read , meaning "An ornament and a safeguard – [in the] 46th year of [her] reign". The 1994 pieces were never legal tender but were eventually released for sale as part of a presentation set in 1998. At the same time in 1994 the Royal Mint produced a mono-metallic trial two-pound coin, with the same