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 His
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]
(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.[3]
(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.[4]
4 Legal
tender[5]
(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 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.
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) [9]
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 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 of level 3 on the standard scale;
(b) in
the case of a subsequent conviction, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 2 years, or both.[10]
(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 of level 3 on the
standard scale:
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.[11]
(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.