Bridgetown.
The Central Bank of Barbados today unveiled a new set of banknotes for the first time since it issued money in 1972.
"We have kept some of the more popular elements so that people can still easily identify the denominations, but we’ve modernised the look, made it more Barbadian, and made the notes easier to authenticate", says Central Governor Dr DeLisle Worrell.
All denominations remain the same colour: $2 – blue, $5 – green, $10 – brown, $20 – purple, $50- orange and green, and $100 – grey, red and blue; and the portraits remain the same. Overall, though, the notes have a new look.
Bold waves now make up the base of the new design, which on the front also includes images of the Coat of Arms, the broken trident, the map of Barbados, and the familiar portraits of John Redman Bovell, Sir Frank Worrell, the Right Excellent Charles Duncan O’Neal, the Right Excellent Samuel Jackman Prescod, the Right Excellent Errol Barrow, and the Right Excellent Sir Grantley Adams. Another new feature on the front of the notes is an area near the top left of the note with raised marks to help the visually impaired identify the value of each note. One dot represents the $2 note, two dots the $5, three dots the $10, four dots the $20, five dots the $50, and six dots the $100 note.
The backs of the notes now feature six different images, each linked to the portrait on the front. For John Redman Bovell, a pioneer of the sugar industry, the $2 has a vignette of Morgan Lewis Windmill. The $5, which has the portrait of former West Indies cricket captain Sir Frank Worrell, has 3Ws Oval, and the $10 portrays Charles Duncan O’Neal Bridge. In honour of the Right Excellent Samuel Jackman Prescod, the first coloured man in the House of Assembly, the $20 bears a vignette of one of the Parliament buildings. The $50 depicts Independence Square, including the statue of the Right Excellent Errol Barrow; and the $100 honours the Right Excellent Sir Grantley Adams with a view of the Grantley Adams International Airport.
In addition to the new design of the notes, major changes have been made to the security features. The map of Barbados watermark, which has been found on all denominations since 1973, has been replaced by six distinct watermarks – the image of the person featured on that denomination’s portrait. Below the main watermark is a second, smaller one that shows the note’s value in numbers.
The security thread on the lower denominations – $2, $5 and $10 – remains the same wave-like silver line that is on current banknotes, but the $20, $50 and $100 have a new wide thread that changes from red to green when the note is tilted. Both types of thread weave in and out of the paper and have “CBB” and the denomination printed on them. For all denominations, when the note is held up to the light, the thread becomes a complete line from the top to the bottom of the note.
Under ultraviolet light, the waves in the centre of the $2, $5 and $10 glow and tiny fibres spread throughout the note fluoresce blue-yellow-blue. On the $20, $50 and $100, the waves fluoresce two different colours – pink and green on the $20, green and yellow on the $50, and yellow and green on the $100 – and tiny pink fibres glow.
On the right side of the two highest denominations, the foil patches have been replaced with holograms. On the $50, the hologram features the pelican prominently along with broken tridents, Pride of Barbados flowers and the numeral “50”; while on the $100, the main image is the dolphin, along with broken tridents, Pride of Barbados flowers and the numeral “100”.
When the note is tilted, the images on the hologram shift.
The Bank advises that all banknotes issued since 1973 remain legal tender and that Barbadians should continue to use them.
The Central Bank will be holding several sessions to familiarise Barbadians with the new designs and security features and will be distributing booklets and flyers with information about them.
The new notes will go into circulation from June.
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