The New Zealand fifty-dollar note is a New Zealand banknote. It is issued by the

Reserve Bank of New Zealand The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ, mi, Te Pūtea Matua) is the central bank of New Zealand. It was established in 1934 and is constituted under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989. The governor of the Reserve Bank is responsible for N ...

and since 1999 has been a

polymer banknote Polymer banknotes are banknotes made from a synthetic polymer such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). Such notes incorporate many security features not available in paper banknotes, including the use of metameric inks. Polymer banknote ...

. It was first issued in 1983. The note originally had an image of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on the front; since 1992 it has had an image of Sir

Āpirana Ngata Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have served in Parliament in the mid-20th century, and is also known for his work ...

Design

There have been seven different series of New Zealand banknotes, and the fifty-dollar note was introduced with the fourth series of banknotes, to fill the gap between the twenty-dollar and one-hundred-dollar notes.

Fourth series (1983–1991)

The first issue had a portrait of Elizabeth II on the front and used orange colouring. The back of the note featured a

morepork The morepork (''Ninox novaeseelandiae''), also called the ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, Norfolk Island and formerly Lord Howe Island. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook—many of t ...

or ruru, New Zealand's only extant native owl. The owl was perched on a

pohutukawa ''Metrosideros excelsa'', commonly known as pōhutukawa ( mi, pōhutukawa), New Zealand Christmas tree, New Zealand Christmas bush, and iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display o ...

, a tree found on the New Zealand coast and often referred to as the "New Zealand Christmas tree". The watermark was of Captain James Cook.

Fifth series (1991–1999)

New Zealand's banknotes were completely re-designed in the 1990s to introduce uniquely New Zealand designs.

Sir Āpirana Ngata ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

, a New Zealand politician who played an important role in the

Māori Renaissance The Māori renaissance is the revival in fortunes of the Māori of New Zealand beginning in the 1970s. Until 1914, and possibly later, the perception of the Māori race, although dying out, was capable and worthy of saving, but only within a Europ ...

, was featured on the new fifty-dollar note. The colour was changed to the current violet, partly to help distinguish it from the reddish orange of the five-dollar note. To the left of Ngata's portrait was the Porourangi meeting house at Waiomatatini Marae, near the town of

Ruatoria Ruatoria ( mi, Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the M ...

. The design also featured a

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are tuitui and arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenui ...

pattern known as ''poutama'' (stairway to heaven) that is found at Porourangi meeting house. On the back was the

kōkako Kōkako (''Callaeas'') are two species of endangered forest birds which are endemic to New Zealand, the North Island kōkako (''Callaeas wilsoni'') and the presumably extinct South Island kōkako (''Callaeas cinereus''). They are both slate-gre ...

(blue wattled crow) and the sky-blue mushroom (''

Entoloma hochstetteri ''Entoloma hochstetteri'', also known as the blue pinkgill, sky-blue mushroom or similar names, is a species of mushroom that is native to New Zealand. The small mushroom is a distinctive all-blue colour, while the gills have a slight reddish ti ...

''), and in the background is

Pureora Forest Park Pureora Forest Park is a protected area in the North Island of New Zealand. Within its rich rainforest are an abundance of 1,000-year-old podocarp trees. It is "recognised as one of the finest rain forests in the world". Established in 1978, af ...

Sixth series (1999–2016)

In 1999, New Zealand changed from paper banknotes to

polymer banknotes Polymer banknotes are banknotes made from a synthetic polymer such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). Such notes incorporate many security features not available in paper banknotes, including the use of metameric inks. Polymer banknote ...

. The change increased the life of the banknotes and also allowed new and improved security features to prevent

counterfeiting To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

. The overall design of the notes remained unchanged albeit for slight modifications for the new security features.

Seventh series (2016–present)

New fifty-dollar banknotes were released in May 2016 as part of the Series 7 banknote release along with new twenty-dollar and one-hundred dollar notes (described by the Reserve Bank as the "Brighter Money" series). The new five-dollar and ten-dollar notes in Series 7 were released earlier in October 2015. The new series was introduced in order to add more security features to New Zealand banknotes. As surveys showed that the New Zealand public were generally content with the note design, very few design changes were made and the overall design remains similar to the Series 5 note. The note was brighter in colour and featured the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

translation of Reserve Bank (Te Putea Matua), and "New Zealand, Aotearoa" on the back.

Security features

New Zealand's banknotes incorporate many security features to prevent

. The newer polymer banknotes have a distinctive plastic feel and should not tear easily. Security features on the Series 7 fifty-dollar note include a large transparent window containing intricate details, such as the denomination of the note and a detailed border with ferns and

koru The ''koru'' () is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape "conveys the ide ...

patterns. When held up to the light, small puzzle pieces on the front and back of the note form a complete number 50 (the denomination of the note). The front and back of the banknote have raised ink that can be felt. On the front of the banknote, the large number 50, the portrait and the words "Reserve Bank of New Zealand Te Pūtea Matua" are raised; on the back, the large number 50, the featured bird and the words "New Zealand" and "Aotearoa" are raised. The Series 6 security features include that, when the note is shown to the light, a shadow image of

is displayed. There is intaglio printing through the note which gives it an embossed feel. Under

UV light Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

a fluorescent patch will appear showing "50", the denomination of the note. The note has a see-through window in the shape of fern on the left and an oval-shaped window on the right. There is an image of a fern located above the see-through window, and the two sides should match perfectly when held up to the light.

References

{{Economy of New Zealand 50 dollar Fifty-base-unit banknotes