Catalog
15 Dollars - Millennium First Note
| Issuer | Chatham Islands Note Corporation |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1999-date) |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio-style engraving on white paper with multicolour guilloche underprint at centre. The left field carries an oval medallion with the year «2001» within decorative scrollwork and a circular holographic foil seal below, while the right field presents an intaglio vignette of a seabird's head in portrait format within an oval frame with laurel surround. A colour vignette of a standing albatross-type bird appears at centre-left against the guilloche rosette, with the denomination «FIFTEEN DOLLARS» printed in bold letterpress across the centre. Three manuscript signatures appear along the lower margin above the legend «FIRST TO SEE THE SUN». |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 2001 THE FIRST MILLENNIUM DOLLARS 2001 15 FIFTEEN WOYTEA'S GENERATIONS THE ANCESTORS OFFICIAL MILLENNIUM FIRST $15 CHATHAM ISLANDS NOTE CORPORATION $15 SHORT SUNDERLAND FLYING BOAT CHAN WANICH SECURITY PRINTING COMPANY LIMITED, THAILAND |
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| Comments |
The Chatham Islands Note Corporation was a private issuing body, not a government central bank — these notes had no legal tender status in any conventional sense and were produced primarily as collectibles commemorating the millennium. The NZ$15 face value was deliberately odd, referencing the Chatham Islands' position in UTC+12:45, the unusual time zone that placed the islands among the first inhabited territories to enter the new millennium.
Printed by Chan Wanich in Bangkok, a firm better known for Southeast Asian government contracts. The hologram was the main security investment, disproportionate for a note never intended to circulate.