New Zealand's new $5 note is the "clear winner" of the international Banknote of the Year Award.
Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) announced the note had won its top banknote award for 2015.
The New Zealand $5 beat 20 notes issued around the world last year which were also contenders. They included the €20 note, Syria's 1000 pound note and Tonga's 50 pa'anga note.
The competition demands that the note be released for the first time for public use in the same year as the competition, and have artistic merit or security features.
The IBNS said the $5 was the "clear winner". The note features Sir Edmund Hillary, who would have been "quietly chuffed" to feature on it, his son Peter said last year.
The $5 and $10 "series 7" notes were released in October.
The new notes have brighter colours and larger text to make it easier to use for those with impaired vision, and feature more advanced security.
The new notes feature improved security. Photo: Reserve Bank of New Zealand
They also feature more prominent use of te reo Māori, with the words Te Pūtea Matua, which means Reserve Bank, on the front and Aotearoa on the back of each note.
With the new $20, $50 and $100 launched earlier this month and set to enter circulation 16 May, New Zealand could win the title two years in a row.
The notes were designed and printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company in Ottawa.
The 2014 winner was Trinidad & Tobago's $50 note.