1971 New Zealand Circulation and Set Coin Differences
New Zealand does not have its own mint so the tasks of circulating coin production and mint and proof set production is outsourced. In many years the circulating coins have been struck by a different mint to the mint and proof set coins. Although New Zealand's decimal currency was launched in 1967, it wasn't until 1971 that different mints were responsible for striking circulating and set coins.
In 1971 the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra struck New Zealand's circulating coins while the Royal Mint in Llantristant struck New Zealand's mint and proof sets. The two mints used slightly different obverse dies so it is possible to differentiate the circulating and set coins: on the circulating coins, the 1 in the date has angled serifs at its base, while on the set coins, the 1 in the data has very slight (almost no) serifs as its base.