What do Sir Edmund Hillary, Queen Elizabeth, Kate Sheppard and Sir Apirana Ngata have in common?
They have all had their images faked by counterfeiters trying to make a dodgy buck.
The Reserve Bank, police and cash-in transit companies detected 134 counterfeits in circulation during the 2011-12 financial year.
That number represented one counterfeit per million notes, and was well down on the 3.4 counterfeits per million detected the previous year, a Reserve Bank spokeswoman said.
The Reserve Bank had a target of fewer than 10 counterfeits per million, each financial year.
New Zealand counterfeits were low by international standards and there was no evidence that any fake notes had been produced offshore, she said.
The introduction of polymer notes in 1999 had resulted in a significant drop in counterfeiting, which had remained low ever since.
Counterfeits varied in quality, and the Reserve Bank advised people to visually inspect all notes before accepting them, especially higher value notes.
The best security feature was to check the clear window, which has the embossed value printed in it, and the distinct plastic feel of the genuine notes.
Those polymer notes were manufactured and printed in Australia.
The country's $1 and $2 coins were minted at the Royal British Mint in Wales, while 50c, 20c and 10c were minted at the Royal Canadian Mint.
Five updated banknotes - the $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 - were expected to be released from 2014 at the earliest.
