1 Pound

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand was established by statute in August 1934, and this note belongs to the inaugural issue — the first series ever released under the new central bank's authority. Before this, note issue had rested with private trading banks. The transition was politically contentious; the Labour opposition argued the reserve bank should be fully state-owned from the outset, a fight they would eventually win after the 1935 election.

T.P. Hanna signed as the first Governor, appointed on the bank's founding. De La Rue handled the printing from their Bunhill Row works, a standard arrangement for new Commonwealth central banks of the period. The watermark remains the sole security feature — modest by later standards, but consistent with the issue's urgency.