High-tech New Zealand banknotes designed to foil counterfeiters
Xinhua, September 1, 2015 Adjust font size:
New Zealand's central bank stepped up the war on counterfeiters Tuesday with the unveiling of the first of a new series of high-tech bank notes.
The 5 NZ dollar and 10 NZ dollar (3.19 and 6.38 U.S. dollars) notes, which are to be released from mid-October were technologically sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing, Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Graeme Wheeler said in a statement.
The new banknotes were the same sizes and denominations as the current banknotes, and made of the same flexible polymer.
The themes were also unchanged, with the same respected New Zealanders, the Queen and flora and fauna.
A transparent holographic window and a picture of a native bird that both changed color when the note was tilted was "a world first" feature, said Wheeler.
Larger denominations would be released from April next year and all five denominations would carry the same security features that would help to ensure that counterfeiting levels in New Zealand remained "very low."
Other security features included a "puzzle number" -- colored irregular shapes that combined like puzzle pieces to show the notes denomination when held up to the light -- and raised ink on both sides of each note. Endi