This Bulletin article was commissioned by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua to mark the Platinum Jubilee of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand (the Queen).
A numismatic approach is taken to describe how the Queen has been depicted on New Zealand’s banknotes and the obverse (‘heads’) side of our coins.
Four different portraits have appeared on our banknotes, and five different effigies (images) of the Queen have been used on our coins.