Currency in New Zealand is about to get a major upgrade as part of a "Brighter Money" initiative undertaken by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Under the initiative, $5s, $10s, $20s, $50s and $100s will be pulled from circulation over the next two years and replaced with more secure and vibrant versions. The impetus for the change is to help thwart counterfeiting by using new technological advances.
"The Reserve Bank’s project to upgrade New Zealand’s banknotes is about celebrating and honoring our country’s unique heritage and culture," Geoff Bascand, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor stated. "It also involves embracing modern and innovative technologies. We expect Brighter Money to be something all New Zealanders can be proud of."
The new banknotes will still showcase the same denominations, sizes, themes and New Zealanders to include Sir Edmund Hillary, Kate Sheppard, Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Apirana Ngata and Lord Rutherford. They will also still be produced from flexible plastic. What will change is that each note will feature a brighter, more modern look and have marked increases in color contrast from other notes. Denominations will also appear in larger print.
Current plans call for the $5 and $10 banknotes to be released in October 2015 followed by the remaining denominations in April 2016. The older notes will remain legal tender with the Reserve Bank.
To create the new money, the Reserve Bank partnered with the Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN). Along with already producing Canadian banknotes, CBN has produced New Zealand’s passports since 2009.
The last revisions to New Zealand banknotes occurred 15 years ago.
To follow are artistic renditions of New Zealand’s newly designed notes. The actual banknotes, when released, are expected to look slightly different as the Reserve Bank is still completing detailed work on the public and machine-readable security features.
More information on the ‘Brighter Money’ changes can be found at the website Brightermoney.co.nz.
Very nice bank notes. The colors are quite similar to our newest Canadian notes.
Stunningly beautiful!
The new notes are absolutely gorgeous! Does anyone know if they’ll be paper or polymer?
Of course we here in the “exceptional, advanced” US will have to wait a few more decades before seeing anything even half so nice.
Duhhh …”They will also still be produced from flexible plastic.”
That’s what I get for posting while tired. 🙂