We’re getting a new $5 note

By AG Staff Writer April 12, 2016
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The Reserve Bank of Australia has revealed the design of a new $5 note that will be issued into circulation from 1 September 2016.

THE NEXT GENERATION of Australian banknotes will be issued into circulation from 1 September this year, with new design features and improved security to prevent counterfeiting.

In order to “facilitate preparations for the smooth introduction of the new banknotes”, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) today released the new design for the $5 note.

While key aspects of the existing design – colour, size and the people portrayed – have been retained, changes include a new ‘tactile’ feature to help people with vision impairments distinguish between denominations. New security features include a distinctive top-to-bottom clear window (shown in blue in the above image).

New Australian $5 note

New Australian $5 note

The basic design artwork for the new $5 banknote. (Image: RBA)

“Each banknote in the new series will depict a different species of Australian wattle and a native bird within a number of the elements,” explained the RBA Governer Glenn Stevens. “On the $5 banknote, these are the prickly moses wattle and the eastern spinebill,” he said.

The designs are the culmination of a process of extensive consultation with experts and industry. The RBA will be revealing more information about the new design and security features of the new banknote series in the coming months – including more information and Australian Geographic-exclusive graphic in the July-August edition of the magazine.

The current series of banknotes can still continue to be used after the new banknotes are issued.

Australian $5 note

(Image: RBA)

The existing $5 polymer banknote was originally issued in 1992, with a brighter version issued in 1995. 

The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II shown on the front of the note was drawn from photographs commissioned by the RBA in 1984. 

Australia’s famously durable and secure polymer bank notes were developed in a combined effort by the RBA and the CSIRO, and first went into circulation in 1988.

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