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Māori King (Tukaroto Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero) Tawhiao (1822--94) established the  Ko Te Peeke o Rotearoa (Bank of Aotearoa) around 1886 and it functioned until 1905. It operated at Rewehetiki in the northern Maungakawas, while Tawhiao’s bank also had branches at Maungatautari, the mountain which rises south of the Maungakawas and it had a branch at Perewera, a settlement south of Te Awamutu. It's greater purpose was to establish Māori autonomy thru banking and monetary services required to manage funds derived from land transactions during European settlements.

The bank produced a single 1 Pauna (Pound) banknote, which was not officially issued. There are 7 notes reported, with just two in private hands and they are among the rarest banknotes from New Zealand.

A £1 note is held by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. "Though much of the iconography is not distinctively Māori, the text is in Māori and the flax bush depicted at lower left is a plant much used by Māori. The Bank of New Zealand described the note as delicate and as elaborately patterned as a tropical butterfly. Using red, yellow, green, blue, and black ink, covered in baroque abstract patterns as well as tiny drawings of a flax plant and a cross-shaped flower." 

The note includes the legends 'Kotahi Pauna' (one pound), 'Ko Te Peeke o Aotearoa' (the bank of Aotearoa, or New Zealand) and 'E whaimana ana tenei moni ki nga tangata katoa' (this money is valid for all people). The words 'Pauna' and 'Kotahi' also make up the vertical and horizontal lines in the note's center.

In addition to the 1 Pound banknote, two cheques are displayed above.

NZ Parliament Rucus: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwve4j176o