Summary

5 dollar polymer bank note, Australia, 2016 AD.

'Next Generation' 5 Dollar polymer bank note in presentation folder, officially issued on 'Wattle Day' 1 September 2016. Note depicts Queen Elizabeth II (obverse) and New Parliament House in Canberra (reverse). This new series of bank note were specially designed with anti forgery and vision impaired features. Each new bank note in the set (to be released on 'Wattle Day' each year for 5 years) will also feature a different species of wattle and a different species of Australian native bird.

Printed by Note Printing Australia, a division of the Reserve Bank of Australia, in Craigieburn, Victoria, 2016. The Next Generation Bank Note Project was established in 2007 and was publicly announced in 2012.

Features include: Prickly Moses wattle (Acacia ulicifolia); Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) in optically variable ink (OVI) (rolling colour effect); the 1901 Federation Pavilion from Centennial Park, Sydney; clear top-to-bottom window; three-dimensional holographic Federation Star and 'flying' Eastern Spinebill; 'tactile feature' (single raised bump) for vision impaired people; reversing '5'; intaglio (raised) text; micro printing (including sections of the Australian Constitution); 'Kinegram Zero. Zero' foil stripe supplied by Leonhard Kurz, Germany; and images and text (Eastern Spinebill, serial number and year of manufacture) that fluoresce under UV light.

Designed by emerystudio in Melbourne, Victoria. The portrait of Queen Elizabeth was redrawn by Rob Cook from photographs commissioned by the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1984.

Made from polymer biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP).

The new notes were released with much fanfare and public debate over the (inaccurately called) 'braille' feature, the bright colours, the fact that the design still featured Queen Elizabeth, and the fact that a top-to-bottom window meant that vending and gambling machines rejected the note. Upgrading software has since alleviated this problem.

In 2016, for the first time, the Reserve Bank of Australia did not produce any specimen copies of these bank notes.

Physical Description

Cardboard folder printed predominantly purple. Pale '5' and detail of Eastern Spinebill in optically variable ink (OVI) (rolling colour effect) feature on the cover. Information about the bank note is printed inside the folder. Predominantly pink and purple polymer bank note is sealed into folder with Queen Elizabeth II (obverse) visible. On the back of the folder is a faint image of New Parliament House and the Reserve Bank of Australia contact details. Obverse depicts portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on right hand side. Clear window with Prickly Moses wattle, Eastern Spinebill and Centennial Pavilion in the centre with stylised Eastern Spinebill and signatures on left hand side. Reverse depicts image of the front of New Parliament House and Forecourt Mosaic on left hand side. Clear window with Prickly Moses wattle, Eastern Spinebill and Centennial Pavillion in the centre with stylised Eastern Spinebill and aerial plan of New Parliament House on right hand side.

Obverse Description

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on right hand side. Clear window with Prickly Moses wattle, Eastern Spinebill and Centennial Pavilion in the centre with stylised Eastern Spinebill and signatures on left hand side.

Reverse Description

Image of the front of New Parliament House and Forecourt Mosaic on left hand side. Clear window with Prickly Moses wattle, Eastern Spinebill and Centennial Pavillion in the centre with stylised Eastern Spinebill and aerial plan of New Parliament House on right hand side.

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