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$100 banknote

The $100 banknote features Lord Rutherford of Nelson on the front and the yellowhead (mōhua) on the back.

Published:

06 August 2024

Series 7

Front of $100 note — Front of Series 7 $100 banknote

Back of $100 note — Back of Series 7 $100 banknote

Series 6

What's on the $100 banknote

Dimensions: 155 mm (length), 74 mm (height)

Front

The front of the $100 note has a portrait of Ernest Lord Rutherford. He is internationally recognised as the father of the atom and changed the basic understanding of atomic science 3 times.
Lord Rutherford has featured on the $100 note since 1999 when the series 5 banknotes were first issued.
Next to Lord Rutherford's portrait is the Nobel Prize medal and radioactivity diagram. In 1908, Lord Rutherford won the Nobel prize in chemistry for his investigations into the chemistry of radioactive substances.

Back

The yellowhead (mōhua) is on the back of the $100 note.
Other design features include the tukutuku whakaaro kotahi, Eglinton Valley, red beech (fuscospora fusca) and South Island lichen moth (declana egregia).

Use our interactive banknote

Learn more about the design features on Series 7 banknotes using our interactive banknote.

Current banknotes

$5 banknote

The $5 banknote features Sir Edmund Hillary on the front and the yellow eyed-penguin (hoiho) on the back.

$10 banknote

The $10 banknote features Kate Sheppard on the front and the blue duck (whio) on the back.

$20 banknote

The $20 banknote features Queen Elizabeth II on the front and the New Zealand falcon (kārearea) on the back.

$50 banknote

The $50 banknote features Sir Apirana Ngata on the front and the kōkako (blue wattled crow) on the back.