Summary

10 Dollar bank note, Australia, 2017 AD.

'Next Generation' 10 Dollar polymer bank note in presentation folder, officially issued on 20 September 2017. Note depicts AB 'Banjo' Paterson (obverse) and Dame Mary Gilmore (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 around 'Wattle Day' (1 September) 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, 2017. The Next Generation Bank Note Project was established in 2007 and was publicly announced in 2012.

Features include: Bramble Wattle (Acacia victoriae); Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) in optically variable ink (OVI) (rolling colour effect); clear top-to-bottom window featuring: three-dimensional holographic pen nib, 'flying' Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and typical homestead building; 'tactile feature' (two raised bumps) for vision impaired people; reversing '10'; intaglio (raised) text; micro printing (including sections of 'The Man from Snowy River' and 'No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest'); images of AB 'Banjo' Paterson era horseman with lasso & horse, Mary Gilmore (based on a 1952 photograph from the Herald and Weekly Times Limited portrait collection, held at the State Library of Victoria), and a man & woman outside a bush hut based on a photograph from the 1800s; 'Kinegram Zero. Zero' foil stripe supplied by Leonhard Kurz, Germany; and images and text (Cockatoo and wattle branch, serial number and year of manufacture) that fluoresce under UV light.

Designed by emerystudio in Melbourne, Victoria. The portrait of AB 'Banjo' Paterson was based on a photograph taken when he returned from the Boer War, 1900. The portrait of Dame Mary Gilmore was based on a photograph taken when she was in her early twenties. It is held in the National Library of Australia Manuscripts Collection (MS 1662/5/5/71). This bank note is the first to feature the signature of Governor Philip Lowe who started on 18 September 2016.

Made from polymer biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP).

The new notes were released in 2016 with much fanfare and public debate over the (inaccurately called) 'braille' feature, the bright colours, 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 2017 there was debate again over the depiction of AB 'Banjo' Paterson and Dame Mary Gilmore on the notes and that vending and gambling machines would need to be upgraded.

In 2016, for the first time, the Reserve Bank of Australia did not produce any specimen copies of these bank notes. This continued in 2017.

Physical Description

Cardboard folder printed predominantly blue. Pale '10' and detail of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in optically variable ink (OVI) (rolling colour effect) feature on the cover. Information about the bank note is printed inside the folder. Predominantly blue and green polymer bank note is sealed into folder with AB 'Banjo' Paterson (obverse) visible. On the back of the folder is a faint image of horseman with lasso & horse and the Reserve Bank of Australia contact details. Obverse of banknote depicts Portrait of AB 'Banjo' Paterson with horseman on right hand side. Clear window with Bramble wattle, pen nib, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and homestead in the centre with stylised Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and signatures on left hand side. Reverse depicts Portrait of Dame Mary Gilmore with a man & woman outside a bush hut on left hand side. Clear window with Bramble wattle, pen nib, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and homestead in the centre with stylised Bramble wattle and smaller image of Mary Gilmore on right hand side.

Obverse Description

Portrait of AB 'Banjo' Paterson with horseman on right hand side. Clear window with Bramble wattle, pen nib, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and homestead in the centre with stylised Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and signatures on left hand side.

Reverse Description

Portrait of Dame Mary Gilmore with a man & woman outside a bush hut on left hand side. Clear window with Bramble wattle, pen nib, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and homestead in the centre with stylised Bramble wattle and smaller image of Mary Gilmore on right hand side.

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