Third series (1967–1981)

The first ten-dollar notes were issued alongside the first one-dollar, two-dollar, five-dollar, twenty-dollar, and one-hundred-dollar notes with the introduction of the New Zealand dollar on 10 July 1967. They were made of cotton-based paper. The design was selected by a six-person design committee appointed in 1964, which included Alexander McLintock, Stewart Bell Maclennan and Professor John Simpson, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury.^[3]

All the notes of this series had Queen Elizabeth II on the front, and a watermark of Captain James Cook. They also had a New Zealand bird and the plant most closely associated with that species on the back. The ten-dollar note had a blue background. On the back was a kea (a New Zealand parrot). The kea was perched on a mountain lily, which had large waxy flowers.^[2][3]

Fourth series (1982–1993)

In late 1981 the Reserve Bank switched to a different printer which meant that new printing plates had to be made. The only changes with this series were minor drawing changes and an update to the portrait of Elizabeth II.^[2][3]

Fifth series (1993–1999)

New Zealand's banknotes were completely re-designed in the 1990s to introduce uniquely New Zealand designs.^[3] Kate Sheppard, the most famous New Zealand suffragist, was now on the front of the ten-dollar note, next to a white camellia, a symbol for universal suffrage in New Zealand. A whio, an endangered species of New Zealand bird, was on the back. Between the portrait and the camellia was a map of New Zealand. The note had a light blue background with ferns.^[1][2] Another feature was the tukutuku patterning on the front, taken from the Te Hau ki Tūranga meeting house at Te Papa Museum.^[4]

The ten-dollar note was released in 1993 to mark the centennial of women getting the vote in New Zealand in 1893.^[3]

Sixth series (1999–2015)

In 1999, New Zealand changed from paper banknotes to polymer banknotes. The change increased the life of the banknotes and also allowed new and improved security features to prevent counterfeiting. The overall design of the notes remained unchanged albeit for slight modifications for the new security features.^[2]

Seventh series (2015–present)

A new ten-dollar note was released in October 2015 along with the newly designed five-dollar note, as part of the Series 7 banknote release (described by the Reserve Bank as the "Brighter Money" series). The remaining three banknote denominations ($20, $50, $100) in Series 7 were released in May 2016.^[5]

The new series was introduced in order to add more security features to New Zealand banknotes. As surveys showed that the New Zealand public were generally content with the note design, very few design changes were made, and the design remains substantially the same as the Series 5 design. The note was brighter in colour and featured the Māori translation of Reserve Bank (Te Putea Matua), and "New Zealand, Aotearoa" on the back.^[3]

The new five-dollar and ten-dollar notes filtered out slowly because the new notes were only issued as returned older notes came in. Polymer banknotes last four times as long as cotton banknotes,^[6] and many notes from the sixth series can still be found in circulation.^[7] As of August 2019, less than half of the $5 and $10 in circulation are these new type, with the sixth series notes still dominating.

1990 commemorative banknote

The Reserve Bank issued a special edition of the ten-dollar note in 1990 to commemorate 150 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The front of the note was largely the same as the standard note, but to the right of the portrait of Kate Sheppard is a red circle with a kōtuku (white heron) with the year "1990" underneath the circle. This was the logo of the 1990 Commission which organised the commemorative celebrations. The back of the note shows the Treaty being signed. To the right, the note reads "New Zealand 1990 commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840". The note is made of cotton and uses dark and light blue colours.^[10]

1999–2000 polymer banknote millennium

The Reserve Bank issued another special edition of the note in 1999 to celebrate the new millennium in New Zealand. Unlike the standard ten-dollar note, it does not feature a portrait. It depicts instead a Māori waka on the front and the words, "The dawn of a new era lights the way for New Zealand's perpetual voyage of innovation and discovery". On the back, it includes images of surfers, sky-divers, canoes and a mountain skier, along with the words "Celebrating New Zealand's free spirit & quest for adventure in the new millennium".^[10] It featured blue and purple colours with some yellow, and folding the note while looking through the transparent window reveals "Y2K". Over three million of these notes were issued into general circulation, and the Reserve Bank began withdrawing them in 2002. They are now collectors' items and as of 2020 can sell for as much as NZ$88.^[11]