In 1964 a committee of the ‘great and good’ was established to select suitable designs for the reverses of New Zealand’s forthcoming decimal coinage. It was long believed that the committee’s archive was lost, destroyed at the behest of the then Minister of Finance, Robert Muldoon, by obedient state servants. However, a virtually complete run of the Coinage Design Advisory Committee’s meetings and related correspondence was gifted to, but long uncatalogued by, the Heritage Collections of Auckland Libraries. Using this, Mark Stocker’s seminar reconstructs the history of the coinage – the ill-fated committee – a minister’s incomprehension of abstract design which derailed a potentially handsome set of coins – last minute desperation and ‘design by committee’ – and the looming, unwelcome influence of Muldoon.
Mark Stocker is Curator, International Art, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Previously he was Associate Professor in the Department of History and Art History at the University of Otago. He has particular interests in British art and sculpture in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Venue: Old Kirk 406 (F L Wood Seminar Room)
Date: Friday, 14 September 2018
Time: 12:10pm to 1:30pm
For more information: Contact Dr Adrian Muckle (adrian.muckle@vuw.ac.nz; 04 463 6773).
The New Zealand Historical Association 