Summary

20 Dollar bank note, uncirculated, Australia, 2019 AD.

'Next Generation' 20 Dollar polymer bank note in presentation folder, officially issued on 9 October 2019. Note depicts Mary Reibey (obverse) and the Reverend John Flynn (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, 2019. The Next Generation Bank Note Project was established in 2007 and was publicly announced in 2012.

Features include: Wattle (Acacia Buxifolia); Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) in optically variable ink (OVI) (rolling colour effect); clear top-to-bottom window featuring: three-dimensional holographic compass, Kookaburra flying and sitting, and a building in Macquarie Place where Mary Reibey lived and conducted her business operations; 'tactile feature' (three raised bumps) for vision impaired people; reversing '20'; intaglio (raised) text; micro printing (including the names of the ships owned by Mary Reibey: Edwin, Governor Macquarie, James, John Palmer, Mercury and Raven, and passages from Reverend John Flynn's book 'The Bushman's Companion'); images of Sydney Cove in the 1800s based on an image by Jacob William Jones and a model of a schooner held by the Tweed Regional Museum, with a traditional Eora nowie (canoe), a De Havilland Dragon aircraft based on a photograph taken in Broken Hill in 1948, and a pedal powered transceiver developed by Alfred Traeger which was used by the Australian Inland Mission (later the Royal Flying Doctor Service) to improve communication in remote areas; 'Kinegram Zero.Zero' foil stripe supplied by Leonhard Kurz, Germany; and images and text (Kookaburra and wattle branch, serial number and year of manufacture) that fluoresce under UV light.

Designed by emerystudio in Melbourne, Victoria. The portrait of Mary Reibey is based on a circa 1835 miniature watercolour on ivory from the State Library of New South Wales. The portrait of Reverend John Flynn is based on a 1930s photograph from the National Library of Australia.

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 2016, for the first time, the Reserve Bank of Australia did not produce any specimen copies of these bank notes. This has continued from 2017 to 2019. The final $100 Next Generation bank note will be issued in late 2020.

Physical Description

Cardboard folder printed predominantly red. Pale '20' and detail of kookaburra in optically variable ink (OVI) (rolling colour effect) feature on the cover. Information about the bank note is printed inside the folder. Predominantly red polymer bank note is sealed into folder with the Reverend John Flynn (reverse) visible. On the back of the folder is a faint image of of Sydney Cove in the 1800s with a schooner a Eora nowie (canoe) and the Reserve Bank of Australia contact details. Obverse of bank note depicts Portrait of Mary Reibey with Sydney Cove and ship on right hand side. Denominations on right hand side. Clear window with wattle, compass, kookaburra and building in the centre with stylised kookaburra and signatures on left hand side. Reverse depicts an image of aeroplane and portrait of Reverend John Flynn on left hand side. Clear window with wattle, compass, kookaburra and building in the centre with a woman using a pedal powered transceiver on right hand side. Denominations on right hand side.

Obverse Description

Portrait of Mary Reibey with Sydney Cove and ship on right hand side. Clear window with wattle, compass, kookaburra and building in the centre with stylised kookaburra and signatures on left hand side.

Reverse Description

Image of areoplane and portrait of Reverend John Flynn on left hand side. Clear window with wattle, compass, kookaburra and building in the centre with a woman using a pedal-powered transceiver on right hand side.

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