On January 11, 2008 Sir Edmund Hillary passed away at the age of 88. The New Zealander was the first person to conquer Mount Everest, the higest mountain in the world in 1953 together with his friend Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

He has been an icon and shining example of a rugged adventurer and is the only Kiwi immortalised on New Zealand's 5 Dollar banknote while he was still alive in 1992.

New Zealand (1992) 5 Dollar - Sir Edmund Hillary

It was said that former Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash had a hard time deciding to put Edmund on the banknote as it was internatonally rare to put a living person who was not a head of state on a banknote.

Read more about Edmund Hillary here