New Zealand currency (1st of 2)
New Zealand currency (1st of 2)
In the late 19th century the kiwi was widely used as a commercial trademark, and was pictured on banknotes. So it was unsurprising that the first currency issued by the newly-established Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 1934 included a kiwi on the 10-shilling note. The image was based on J. G. Keulemans’s illustration, which had appeared in Walter Buller’s A history of the birds of New Zealand (1873). The kiwi also appeared on the two-shilling coin, facing left. When decimal currency was introduced in 1967, the kiwi reappeared on the 20-cent coin, but this time it faced right.
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