NZD – New Zealand Dollar

Monetary System

1840: 1 New Zealand pound (NZP) = 20 shillings
10.07.1967: 1 New Zealand dollar (NZD) = 10 shillings

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

From 1840 until 1934, over a dozen private trading banks issued notes in New Zealand. When the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) was established on 1 August 1934 by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1933, it became the sole issuer of notes.
For more information, visit www.rbnz.govt.nz.

2015 – 2018 Brighter Money Issues

On 19 November 2014, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand unveiled the designs for a new family of “Brighter Money” banknotes with upgraded security features. The 5- and 10-dollar notes were introduced on 12 October 2015, followed by the 20-, 50-, and 100-dollar notes on 16 May 2016. The new notes have the same themes, colors, and sizes as the preceding issues, and both circulate in parallel. The notes are printed (without imprint) by Canadian Bank Note Company in Ottawa, Canada.

Description: 5.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 135 x 66 mm

Brown and orange. Front: English text; penguin in gold SPARK; Mount Cook/Aoraki; Sir Edmund Hillary. Back: English text; daisy (Pleurophyllum speciosum) flower; yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho (Megadyptes antipodes) bird; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): None. Printer: (Canadian Bank Note Company). 135 x 66 mm. Polymer.

Description: 10.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 140 x 68 mm

Blue, violet, and green. Front: English text; duck in green SPARK; white camellia flowers; Kate Sheppard. Back: English text; Parahebe catarractae flowers; blechnum fern/mountain kiokio; blue duck/whio (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) birds; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): None. Printer: (Canadian Bank Note Company). 140 x 68 mm. Polymer.

Description: 20.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 145 x 70 mm

Blue, violet, and green. Front: English text; falcon in gold SPARK; Executive wing (The “Beehive”) and Parliament House building in Wellington; outline map of New Zealand; Queen Elizabeth II wearing Hanoverian Fringe Tiara and matching necklace, Sovereign’s insignia of the Order of New Zealand, the New Zealand Order of Merit, Star, Sash, and Badge (obscured), The Queen’s Service Order, and Diamond Fern brooch presented by the women of Auckland in 1953 on her right shoulder. Back: English text; Marlborough rock daisy (Pachystegia insignis) flowers; flowering red tussock (Chionchloa rubra) grass; Mount Tapuaenuku; New Zealand falcon/karearea (Falco novaeseelandiae) bird; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): None. Printer: (Canadian Bank Note Company). 145 x 70 mm. Polymer.

Description: 50.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 150 x 72 mm

Purple, orange, and brown. Front: English text; crow in green SPARK; Porourangi Māori meeting house building in Waiomatatini Marae; Sir Apirana Ngata; tukutuku pattern (Poutama porourangi). Back: English text; sky-blue mushrooms (Entoloma hochstetteri); Pureora Forest; blue-wattled crow/kokako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni) bird; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): None. Printer: (Canadian Bank Note Company). 150 x 72 mm. Polymer.

Description: 100.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 155 x 74 mm

Violet, orange, and red. Front: English text; canary in gold SPARK; radioactivity graphs; Nobel prize medal; Lord Rutherford of Nelson. Back: English text; South Island lichen moth (Declana egregia); Red Beech/tawhairaunui (Nothofagus fusca); Eglinton Valley in Fiordland National Park/yellowhead/mohua (Mohoua ochrocephala) canary bird; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): None. Printer: (Canadian Bank Note Company). 155 x 74 mm. Polymer.

1999 – 2014 Polymer Issues

These notes are like the preceding issues, but they were printed (without imprint) on polymer by Note Printing Australia in Craigieburn, near Melbourne, Australia. The first two digits of the serial number represent the last two digits of the year of printing.
The bank issued matched sets of all denominations for the years 1999-2004 and 2007-2008, with quantities limited to 1,000 sets in each year. Some denominations with these dates are available only in these sets and as such are not listed as issued varieties, but rather as numismatic products which follow.

Description: 5.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 138 x 66 mm

Brown and orange. Front: English text; fern as registration device; Mount Cook/Aoraki; Massey Ferguson tractor; outline map of New Zealand; Sir Edmund Hillary. Back: English text; daisy (Pleurophyllum speciosum) flower; bull kelp (Durvillaea antarctica); yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho (Megadyptes antipodes) bird; subantarctic lily (Bulbinella rossii) flowers; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): Queen Elizabeth II. Printer: (Note Printing Australia). 138 x 66 mm. Polymer.

Description: 10.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 141 x 68 mm

Blue, violet, and green. Front: English text; fern as registration device; white camellia flowers; outline map of New Zealand; Kate Sheppard. Back: English text; Parahebe catarractae flowers; blechnum fern/mountain kiokio; blue duck/whio (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) birds; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): Queen Elizabeth II. Printer: (Note Printing Australia). 141 x 68 mm. Polymer.

Description: 20.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 147 x 70 mm

Blue, violet, and green. Front: English text; fern as registration device; Executive wing (The “Beehive”) and Parliament House building in Wellington; outline map of New Zealand; Queen Elizabeth II wearing Grand Duchess Vladimir’s tiara, Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee necklace, Queen Mary’s drop earrings, and the Sovereign’s Badge of the Queen’s Service Order. Back: English text; Marlborough rock daisy (Pachystegia insignis) flowers; flowering red tussock (Chionchloa rubra) grass; Mount Tapuaenuku; New Zealand falcon/karearea (Falco novaeseelandiae) bird; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): Queen Elizabeth II. Printer: (Note Printing Australia). 147 x 70 mm. Polymer.

Description: 50.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 151 x 72 mm

Purple, orange, and brown. Front: English text; fern as registration device; Porourangi Māori meeting house building in Waiomatatini Marae; outline map of New Zealand; Sir Apirana Ngata; tukutuku pattern (Poutama porourangi). Back: English text; supplejack/kareao (Ripogonum scandens) leaves; Pureora Forest; blue-wattled crow/kokako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni) bird; sky-blue mushrooms (Entoloma hochstetteri); ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): Queen Elizabeth II. Printer: (Note Printing Australia). 151 x 72 mm. Polymer.

Description: 100.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 157 x 74 mm

Violet, orange, and red. Front: English text; fern as registration device; radioactivity graphs; Nobel prize medal; outline map of New Zealand; Lord Rutherford of Nelson. Back: English text; South Island lichen moth (Declana egregia); Red Beech/tawhairaunui (Nothofagus fusca); Eglinton Valley in Fiordland National Park/yellowhead/mohua (Mohoua ochrocephala) canary bird; ferns. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): Queen Elizabeth II. Printer: (Note Printing Australia). 157 x 74 mm. Polymer.

2000 (1999) Numismatic Products

This 10-dollar note was introduced in 1999 and differs from the circulating currency which followed in 2000 in that it has red serial numbers, a coat of arms overprint, and NZ prefix. Some of these numismatic products were unintentionally issued as circulating notes.

Description: 10.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 141 x 68 mm

Blue, orange, and yellow. Front: English text; spirals; paua shell pattern; outline map of New Zealand; earth; sun; waka (Māori war canoe); red coat of arms overprint; ferns; satellite dish. Back: English text; man riding wave on surfboard; Mount Cook/Aoraki; skier; children at beach; wave; kayakers; tandem skydivers; map. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): Te upoko (head). Printer: (Note Printing Australia). 141 x 68 mm. Polymer.

2000 Commemorative Issues

This circulating 10-dollar note issued in 2000 commemorates the new millennium. If you fold the note over and look through the clear window at the map of New Zealand next to the canoe on back, the letters Y2K become visible. It is distinguished from the numismatic product by its black serial numbers and prefixes AA to CI.

Description: 10.00 NZD – New Zealand Dollar Size: 141 x 68 mm

Blue, orange, and yellow. Front: English text; spirals; paua shell pattern; outline map of New Zealand; earth; sun; waka (Māori war canoe); ferns; satellite dish. Back: English text; man riding wave on surfboard; Mount Cook/Aoraki; skier; children at beach; wave; kayakers; tandem skydivers; map. No security thread. Watermark (shadow image): Te upoko (head). Printer: (Note Printing Australia). 141 x 68 mm. Polymer.

Museum

The Reserve Bank Of New Zealand Museum is located at 2 The Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand. It is free and open to the public weekdays, excluding holidays.