The Australian ten-dollar note was issued when the currency was changed from the Australian pound to the Australian dollar on 14 February 1966; it replaced the £5 note which included the same blue colouration. There have been four different issues of this denomination, a paper banknote, a commemorative hipolymer note to celebrate the bicentennial of Australian settlement, the 1993-2017 polymer note, and from September 2017 a polymer note featuring a transparent window. According to Reserve Bank of Australia statistics, as at June 2017 there were 128 million $10 notes in circulation, with a net value of $1.280 billion. This was 2% of the cash value of all banknotes in circulation, and 8% of the number of all banknotes in circulation. Since the start of issue of $10 notes, there have been eleven signature combinations, of which the 1967 issue is the most valued. It was issued for one year only, along with the Coombs/Wilson issue of 1966. Following the issue of a new $5 note in September 2016, the RBA revealed the design for the $10 note and was issued on the 20th of September, 2017.
Printing
From 1966–1974 the main title identifying the country was Commonwealth of Australia; there were 470,000,000 notes issued in this period. This was subsequently changed to Australia until the end of issue of paper currency for this denomination in 1993, with 1,265,959,091 of these notes being printed. In the 1988 polymer issue 17,500,000 banknotes were printed and was the new Australia's 10 dollar note.
Design
Paper note
The people depicted on the paper note issue were Francis Greenway on the obverse along with public buildings he helped construct, and Henry Lawson on the reverse with his poetry and scenes of the outback gold mining town of Gulgong in the 19th century including the Times Bakery.
Obverse design included the sailing ship HMS Supply anchored at Sydney Cove with the early colony in the background. Above are people who symbolise all who have contributed to Australia, from left the early settlers to right the modern working man. Reverse reflects the Australian Aboriginal culture and peoples. The main picture is an Aboriginal youth with ceremonial paint, and in the background is a Morning Star Pole, other Aboriginal artworks commissioned by the Bank and a human like figure from Dreamtime mythology.
Security features
The paper design included a watermark in the white field of Captain James Cook, the watermark was also used in the last issue of pound banknotes. A metallic strip, first near the centre of the note, then from 1976 moved to the left side on the obverse of the note. Polymer issue includes a shadow image of the coat of arms which is printed over. Embossing or a raised image in the clear window of wavy lines. Also for this issue fluorescent colouring was added to the serial numbers. A star with four points on the obverse and three on the reverse which join under light. Raised print and micro printing of the poem The Man from Snowy River and the denomination value are included. 1988 Commemorative This issue includes an optically variable device of Captain James Cook, who first mapped Botany Bay.
