Description and research notes
Specimen of the 1992 100 Dollars issue featuring Lord Ernest Rutherford of Nelson, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose portrait replaced Queen Elizabeth II on this new design printed by Thomas De La Rue & Company for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The note inaugurates the 'Series 6' family that would transition to polymer in 1999.
The front depicts Rutherford beside the 1908 Nobel medal and an atomic model symbolizing his discovery of the nuclear atom; the reverse presents native flora and fauna in bronze-red tones. This example shows serial AA000000 003, with red diagonal 'SPECIMEN' overprint, two De La Rue oval stamps marked 'NO VALUE', and a single punch-hole cancellation. The watermark of Queen Elizabeth II was retained as a security device, creating a visual dialogue between past and present.
PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated, bright and well-preserved. As the final paper hundred-dollar design and the only denomination to debut directly with Rutherford’s portrait, it marks the definitive close of the Elizabeth II paper series and the scientific re-imaging of New Zealand’s currency identity.