In 1999 a private organisation, the Chatham Islands Note Corporation, issued banknotes to celebrate the Chatham Islands being the first human-inhabited land to enter the third millennium. Banknotes such as these cannot be declared legal tender, and there is no obligation for anyone to accept the notes issued by the Chatham Island Note Corporation in any transaction. These notes were reported to have been accepted by merchants on the Chatham Islands, some of whom served as directors of the issuer.
The Chatham Islands Note Corporation was initially based in Christchurch. The agent for providing the notes to the numismatic trade was Leon Morel, Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand of Melbourne, Victoria. The corporation later shifted their base of operations to Waitangi.
The face value of the notes was pegged at the same rate as the New Zealand dollar. They are unusual in that the first series included $3 and $15 notes, while the second series includes an $8 note.