Neal Fleming
{{Short description|New Zealand banker (died 1975)}}
{{Distinguish|Neil Fleming}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Neal Fleming
| image =
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| death_date = {{Death date|1975|08|22|df=y}}
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| occupation = Banker{{cite web |title=Banknote signatures |url=https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/museum/signatories-on-our-banknotes |website=Reserve Bank of New Zealand |access-date=31 January 2025}}
| known_for = First signatory of the New Zealand Dollar Notes
| notable_works =
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Neal Fleming was best known for being the signatory on the first New Zealand Dollar notes.
Career
When he joined in 1934, Fleming became one of the first employees of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
In 1953, he was appointed the third chief cashier of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. He remained chief cashier for 11 years. As with the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England,{{cite web |title=Chief Cashiers |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/people/chief-cashiers |website=Bank of England |access-date=3 February 2025}} between 1940 and 1984, New Zealands banknotes were signed by the chief cashier. Therefore bank notes issued between 1956 and 1967 bear Fleming's signature.
Fleming was a member of the Decimal Currency Board - a team responsible for replacing the New Zealand Pound with the decimal New Zealand Dollar.
Decimalisation of the New Zealand currency occurred on 10 July 1967, when the New Zealand pound was replaced by the New Zealand dollar. On the same day, new decimal banknotes were introduced to replace the existing pound banknotes, in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, and $100.{{cite web |title=The history of banknotes in New Zealand |url=https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/notes-and-coins/notes/the-history-of-banknotes-in-new-zealand |website=Reserve Bank of New Zealand |publisher=New Zealand Government |access-date=10 December 2020 |archive-date=1 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601075658/https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/notes-and-coins/notes/the-history-of-banknotes-in-new-zealand |url-status=dead }}{{cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=Matthew |title=A litmus test for society: Reserve Bank decimal note designs 1967–2017 |journal=Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin |date=July 2017 |volume=80 |issue=5 |url=https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/-/media/ReserveBank/Files/Publications/Bulletins/2017/2017Jul80-05.pdf |access-date=9 December 2020}}
Fleming's signature is on the first New Zealand Dollar notes ever produced.