The Chatham Island Dollars

A commercial project for new Millenium, issued by the private Chatham Islands Note Corporation. The notes are dated 1999, and called Millenium 2000 Notes. They circulated for about a year and were eagerly accepted by the local population and businesses as a means of payment.

On the front page of the notes it says that "this note is negotiable tender", which might have prompted the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to issue a press statement, clarifying that these notes are not legal tender, and that "they have the same status as ‘monopoly play money, sea shells or bottles of beer’."

A second issue a year later came out for the collectors market only.

See some examples here: Community Currency Gallery

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External links:

- A Reserve Bank of New Zealand press release: http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2000/0091162.html
- http://www.polymernotes.org/resources/chatham.htm
- http://www.polymernotes.org/resources/promotional/promotional_chatham.htm (Photos)
- The Wikipedia on the Chatham Islands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatham_Islands
- Private Issues – Jason Islands & Chatham Islands, by Peter Symes