Advanced Search

Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971


Published: 2013-01-01

Subscribe to a Global-Regulation Premium Membership Today!

Key Benefits:

Subscribe Now for only USD$40 per month.
Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971

Revised Edition

24.690

Showing the law as at 1 January 2013

This is a revised edition of the law

Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971

Arrangement

Article

1            Interpretation

2            The new decimal currency

3            Coinage of the new currency

4            Legal tender

5             Power of Minister to call in coins

6            Bills of exchange and promissory notes

7            Amendment of references to shillings and pence in enactments

8            Supplementary power to amend enactments referring to shillings and pence

9            Conversion of references to shillings and pence in certain instruments

10          Conversion of bank balances

11          Payment of certain periodical payments

12          Application of Regulations made by the industrial assurance commissioner and the chief registrar of friendly societies

13          Registered stock transferable in multiples of one penny

14          Payments after end of transitional period

15          Modification of forms

16          Restrictions on melting or breaking of metal coins

17          Citation

SCHEDULE

METHOD OF CALCULATING IN CERTAIN CASES THE AMOUNT IN NEW PENCE CORRESPONDING TO AN AMOUNT IN SHILLINGS AND PENCE

Supporting Documents

Endnotes

Table of Legislation History

Table of Renumbered Provisions

Table of Endnote References



Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971[1]

A LAW to make provision in connection with the introduction of decimal currency, to specify the extent to which coins shall be legal tender, to impose restrictions on the melting or breaking of metal coins and to provide for matters connected therewith

Commencement [see endnotes]

1      Interpretation

(1)    In this Law, unless the context otherwise requires –

“appointed day” means 15th February 1971;

“enactment” includes an enactment of the United Kingdom;

“Minister” means the Minister for Treasury and Resources;

“Mint” means Her Majesty’s Royal Mint in the United Kingdom;

“new currency” means the new currency provided for by this Law;

“old currency” means the currency in force before the appointed day;

“transitional period” means the period beginning with the appointed day and ending with such day as the States shall by Act appoint.

(2)    Any reference in this Law to any other enactment shall be construed as including a reference to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment.

2      The new decimal currency

On and after the appointed day the denominations of money in the currency of Jersey shall be the pound and the new penny, the new penny being one-hundredth part of a pound.

3      Coinage of the new currency

(1)    The Minister is authorized to issue coinage of the new currency of a denominational value not exceeding in any one year such sum as the Minister may determine.

(2)    Coins issued in pursuance of this Article shall be of such denomination or denominations as the Minister shall determine.

(3)    Coins issued in pursuance of this Article shall be issued under the direction of the Minister which shall determine the design, weight and composition thereof and the inscription by which the denomination of each coin so issued is to be represented on the coin.[2]

(4)    A coin issued under this Article and specified as having a value of pence, shall be treated as having a value of the same number of new pence.[3]

4      Legal tender[4]

(1)    Coins issued by the Mint in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of the Decimal Currency Act 1967 of the United Kingdom or in accordance with the Coinage Act 1971 of the United Kingdom or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof and not called in by proclamation under section 3(1)(e) of that Act, or coins issued by the Minister under this Law or the Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1969[5] and not called in by Order under Article 5 of this Law shall be legal tender as follows, that is to say –

(a)     coins of gold, for the payment of any amount;

(b)     coins of silver or cupro-nickel and nickel-brass of the denomination of £2 or more, for the payment of any amount;

(c)     coins of cupro-nickel, silver, mixed metal or other metal alloy of denominations of more than 10 new pence or 2 shillings but less than £2, for payment of any amount not exceeding £10;

(d)     coins of cupro-nickel or silver of denominations of not more than 10 new pence or 2 shillings, for payment of any amount not exceeding £5;

(dd)     coins of mild steel coated with nickel of denominations of not more than 10 new pence for payment of any amount not exceeding £5;

(e)     coins of bronze or other mixed metal or metal alloy of denominations of not more than 2 new pence, for the payment of any amount not exceeding 20 new pence;

(f)     such other coins that the Minister may specify by Order as legal tender. [6]

(1A)      An Order under paragraph (1)(f) may specify the denomination and composition of coins and determine that such coins shall be legal tender for payment of any amount not exceeding such amount as is specified in the Order or for payment of any amount without limit.[7]

(2)    Coins of the old currency other than gold coins and coins in respect of which proclamation is made in the United Kingdom under section 15(5) of the Decimal Currency Act 1969 of the United Kingdom, shall not be legal tender after the end of the transitional period.

(3)    For the purposes of being used for any payment in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Article a coin of either the old or the new currency may be treated as being a current coin of the other currency of equal value.

5       Power of Minister to call in coins[8]

The Minister may, by Order, call in coins issued in pursuance of –

(a)     this Law; or

(b)     the Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1969.[9]

6      Bills of exchange and promissory notes

(1)    A bill of exchange or promissory note drawn or made on or after the appointed day shall be invalid if the sum payable is an amount of money wholly or partly in shillings or pence.

(2)    A bill of exchange or promissory note for an amount wholly or partly in shillings or pence dated 15th February 1971, or later, shall be deemed to have been drawn or made before 15th February 1971, if it bears a certificate in writing by a banker that it was so drawn or made.

7      Amendment of references to shillings and pence in enactments

(1)    Subject to the provisions of this Article and of any Order under Article 8, where an enactment passed or made before the appointed day contains a reference to an amount of money in the old currency which is not a whole number of pounds, that reference shall, in so far as it refers to an amount in shillings or pence, be read on and after that day as referring to the equivalent of that amount in the new currency.

(2)    Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any reference contained in this Law or any Order made thereunder or in any other enactment relating to coinage or currency, whenever passed or made.

8      Supplementary power to amend enactments referring to shillings and pence

(1)    Where an enactment passed or made before the appointed day contains a reference to an amount of money in the old currency which is not a whole number of pounds, the Minister may by Order –

(a)     if the equivalent of that amount in the new currency is not a new penny or a multiple thereof, substitute for that reference a reference to such amount in the new currency as in the opinion of the Minister is the appropriate multiple of a new half-penny (or if the case so requires a reference to a new half-penny);

(b)     make such other amendment in that enactment as in the opinion of the Minister is appropriate for securing either that any amount payable thereunder will be a new half-penny or a multiple thereof or that any amount payable thereunder will be a new penny or a multiple thereof;

(c)     if that reference is part of a rate, percentage, proportion, formula or other basis of calculation, make such amendment in the enactment as in the opinion of the Minister is appropriate for securing that the basis of calculation is expressed in the new currency and in convenient terms.

(2)    An Order under this Article –

(a)     may include such consequential, supplementary or transitional provisions as the Minister thinks fit; and

(b)     may be revoked or varied by a subsequent Order.

(3)    An Order made under this Article shall not come into force before the appointed day.

(4)    No Order altering the rate of any tax shall be made under this Article.

(5)    The amendment of any provision by an Order made under this Article shall not prejudice any power to amend or vary that provision conferred by any other enactment.

(6)    The Subordinate Legislation (Jersey) Law 1960[10] shall apply to Orders made under this Law.

9      Conversion of references to shillings and pence in certain instruments

(1)    On and after the appointed day any reference to an amount of money in the old currency contained in an instrument to which this Article applies shall, in so far as it refers to an amount in shillings or pence, be read as referring to the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule.

(2)    If a reference to an amount of money in the old currency contained in an instrument to which this Article applies is altered so as to make it read as it would otherwise fall to be read in accordance with paragraph (1), the alteration shall not affect the validity of the instrument.

(3)    This Article applies to instruments of any of the following descriptions drawn, made or issued before the appointed day, namely –

(a)     cheques and other instruments to which Article 5 of the Cheques (Jersey) Law 1957[11] applies;

(b)     bills of exchange other than cheques;

(c)     promissory notes;

(d)     money orders and postal orders;

(e)     any warrant issued by or on behalf of the Director of Savings for the payment of a sum of money;

(f)     any document issued by or on behalf of the Minister for Social Security which is intended to enable a person to obtain payment of the sum mentioned in the document but which is not a bill of exchange;

(g)     any other document which is intended to enable a person to obtain through a banker payment of any sum mentioned in the document.

10    Conversion of bank balances

(1)    Where the amount of the balance standing to the credit or debit of an amount at a bank on or after the appointed day is not a whole number of pounds, so much of that amount as is in shillings or pence may be treated as the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule.

(2)    In this Article, “bank” includes the National Savings Bank and the Jersey Savings Bank.

11    Payment of certain periodical payments

(1)    This Article applies to any amount of money in the old currency payable on or after the appointed day as one of a series of payments of the same amount payable periodically, whether pursuant to an instrument or otherwise, not being an amount mentioned in paragraph (3).

(2)    Subject to the provisions of this Law, where an amount of money to which this Article applies is not a whole number of pounds, so much of it as is in shillings or pence may be paid by paying the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule.

(3)    This Article does not apply to –

(a)     an amount payable to an employee or the holder of any office by way of wages, salary or other remuneration; or

(b)     the amount of any payment payable to or by a registered friendly society or industrial assurance company under a friendly society or industrial assurance company contract made before the appointed day.

(4)    In paragraph (3)(b) –

“contract” in relation to a friendly society means a contract made by a registered friendly society with a member of the society in the course of its business in the Bailiwick of Jersey whether contained in the rules of the society or not; and in relation to an industrial assurance company, means a contract of assurance made by an industrial assurance company in the course of its industrial assurance business in the Bailiwick of Jersey;

“industrial assurance company” and “industrial assurance business” have the meanings assigned to them by section one of the Industrial Assurance Act 1923 of the United Kingdom as amended by Part II of Schedule 6 to the Companies Act 1967 of the United Kingdom;

“registered friendly society” means a friendly society registered in any part of the United Kingdom under the Friendly Societies Act 1896 of the United Kingdom or a branch so registered under that Act of a friendly society so registered.

12    Application of Regulations made by the industrial assurance commissioner and the chief registrar of friendly societies

Any Regulations made by the appropriate authority under section 6(2) or (6) or by the Industrial Assurance Commissioner by virtue of section 7(5) of the Decimal Currency Act 1969 of the United Kingdom shall extend to payments to which Article 11(3)(b) refers and to the records of such payments.

13    Registered stock transferable in multiples of one penny

(1)    Any registered stock which immediately before the appointed day is transferable in multiples of one penny shall on and after the appointed day be transferable instead in multiples of one new penny except in so far as, in the exercise of any power in that behalf, other provision is or has been made as to the amounts in which that stock is to be transferable as from that or any later day.

(2)    In any prospectus or other document issued before the appointed day that sets out the terms on which any such registered stock is to be issued or held, any reference to one penny as the amount in multiples of which that stock is to be transferable shall on and after that day be read as a reference to one new penny.

(3)    Where the amount of the balance of any such registered stock standing in the name of any person immediately before the appointed day in an account in the register is not a whole number of pounds, so much of that amount as is in shillings or pence shall on and after that day be treated as the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule.

(4)    In this Article “registered stock” includes inscribed stock, and the “register”, in relation to any registered stock, means any register or book in which that stock is registered or inscribed.

14    Payments after end of transitional period

Where an amount of money in the old currency which is not a whole number of pounds falls to be paid after the end of the transitional period, the amount payable in respect of so much of it as is in shillings or pence shall be the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule.

15    Modification of forms

(1)    Where any form set out in an enactment passed or made before the appointed day is designed to accommodate references to sums of money wholly or partly in shillings or pence, the form may be used with such modifications as are necessary to enable it to accommodate references to sums of money wholly or partly in new pence.

(2)    Paragraph (1) is without prejudice to any other provision authorizing the modification of any such form.

16    Restrictions on melting or breaking of metal coins

(1)    No person shall, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Minister, melt down or break up any metal coin which is for the time being current in the British Islands or which, having been current there, has at any time after the passing of this Law ceased to be so.

(2)    Any person who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be liable –

(a)     in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding £400;

(b)     in the case of a subsequent conviction, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or both.

(3)    If any condition attached to a licence granted under paragraph (1) is contravened or not complied with, the person to whom the licence was granted shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £400:

Provided that where a person is charged with an offence under this paragraph it shall be a defence to prove that the contravention or non-compliance occurred without the person’s consent or connivance and that the person exercised all due diligence to prevent it.

(4)    Where any person is convicted of an offence under this Article, the Royal Court may, whether or not it imposes any other punishment, order the articles in respect of which the offence was committed to be forfeited.

(5)    Where an offence under this Article committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he or she as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

17    Citation

This Law may be cited as the Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971.



SCHEDULE

(Articles 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14)

METHOD OF CALCULATING IN CERTAIN CASES THE AMOUNT IN NEW PENCE CORRESPONDING TO AN AMOUNT IN SHILLINGS AND PENCE

The amount in the new currency corresponding to an amount in shillings, shillings and pence, or pence shall be calculated as follows –

(a)     for any whole 2 shillings or multiple thereof the corresponding amount in the new currency shall be taken to be 10 new pence or that multiple thereof; and

(b)     for any amount or remaining amount of less than 2 shillings shown in column 1 of the following Table the corresponding amount in the new currency shall be taken to be the amount (if any) in new pence shown opposite that amount in column 2 of that Table (and accordingly an amount or remaining amount of one penny shall be disregarded).



TABLE



Amount
in old
currency



Corresponding
amount in new
pence.



 



1d







 



2d.



1p



 



3d.



1p



 



4d.



2p



 



5d.



2p



 



6d.



3p



 



7d.



3p



 



8d.



3p



 



9d.



4p



 



10d.



4p



 



11d.



5p



1s.



0d.



5p



1s.



1d.



5p



1s.



2d.



6p



1s.



3d.



6p



1s.



4d.



7p



1s.



5d.



7p



1s.



6d.



7p



1s.



7d.



8p



1s.



8d.



8p



1s.



9d.



9p



1s.



10d.



9p



1s.



11d.



10p



Endnotes

Table of Legislation History



Legislation



Year and No



Commencement



Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971



L.4/1971



15 February 1971



Decimal Currency (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 1972



L.25/1972



27 October 1972



Decimal Currency (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Law 1980



L.11/1980



6 June 1980



Decimal Currency (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 1981



L.3/1981



21 April 1981



Decimal Currency (Amendment No. 4) (Jersey) Law 1985



L.5/1985



8 February 1985



Decimal Currency (Amendment No. 5) (Jersey) Law 1990



L.14/1990



28 September 1990



Decimal Currency (Amendment No. 6) (Jersey) Law 1997



L.27/1997



18 July 1997



States of Jersey (Amendments and Construction Provisions No. 2) (Jersey) Regulations 2005



R&O.43/2005



9 December 2005



Decimal Currency (Amendment No. 7) (Jersey) Law 2012



L.19/2012



28 July 2012



Table of Renumbered Provisions



Original



Current



3(5)    



repealed by L.14/1990; former paragraph inserted by L.5/1985



4(1)(aa)



4(1)(b)



(b)



(c)



(c)



(d)



(d)



(e)



4A



5



5



6



6



7



7



8



8



9



9



10



10



11



11



12



12



13



13



14



14



15



15



spent, omitted from this revised edition



17



spent, omitted from this revised edition



18



17



Table of Endnote References



[1]



This Law has been amended by the States of Jersey (Amendments and Construction Provisions No. 2) (Jersey) Regulations 2005. The amendments replace all references to a Committee of the States of Jersey with a reference to a Minister of the States of Jersey, and remove and add defined terms appropriately, consequentially upon the move from a committee system of government to a ministerial system of government



[2] Article 3(3)



amended by L.11/1980



[3] Article 3(4)



inserted by L.11/1980



[4] Article 4



substituted by L.14/1990; former Article 4(1) amended by L.25/1972, L.3/1981, L.5/1985, former Article 4(2) repealed by L.3/1981



[5]



L.7/1969



[6] Article 4(1)



amended by L.27/1997, L.19/2012



[7] Article 4(1A)



added by L.19/2012



[8] Article 5



inserted by L.14/1990



[9]



L.7/1969



[10]



chapter 15.720



[11]



chapter 05.050