Kōrero: Coins and banknotes

The British explorer and mariner James Cook presented Māori chiefs with specially struck medals in 1773, during his second Pacific voyage. They commemorated the voyage and were also used to assert rights of ‘discovery’. The medals were distributed in the South Island. The known surviving ones were found some distance from where they were handed out, which has led scholars to argue they were traded by Māori as a form of currency.