Circulation of the new CRISP $50 banknote

The Central Bank is pleased to announce that on December 13, 2006, it released into circulation the third denomination in its CRISP family of banknotes to continue to upgrade the security of Bahamian banknotes. The CRISP $50, which follows the CRISP $20 introduced on September 13, 2006, will incorporate similar security features as the earlier CRISP $10 and $20 banknotes. In addition, it will bear a denomination specific watermark of Roland T. Symonette and the numeral 50 on the left.

These new banknotes will circulate alongside the existing notes, until the latter are declared unfit for circulation.

“This exercise is quite important to us, as we continue to improve the security of our banknotes by making use of new technologies and processes”, says Governor Craigg.

As part of its public education initiatives, the Bank has available, and has distributed to banks and other cash handlers, flyers and posters which describe the new security features of the $50 banknote. “Educating the public about their currency—new and old—is always at the forefront our efforts,” says Governor Craigg. “This is the only way that the security features built into every banknote are of significance—if the public is aware of them and knows how to identify and use them.”

The Bank is pleased with the security and aesthetics of the new note, which is orange, brown, and green in colour, and continues to bear the portrait of Sir Roland T. Symonette on the front and a vignette of the Central Bank’s building on the back. As with the earlier CRISP releases, the names of the Islands of The Bahamas have been made larger, the engravings made deeper and thicker—resulting in a more tactile feeling on the surface—and the images have been arranged in such a way that the note boasts a more modern appearance.

Banking Manager Cecile Sherman added that “the public can help reduce opportunities for counterfeiters by checking their banknotes for several upgraded security features:

• A new watermark—the previous note bore a watermark of a Spanish Galleon, while the new note boasts a watermark of Sir Roland T. Symonette and the numeral 50 (front left)
• A new windowed thread—that is much wider and weaves in and out of the paper, andchanges colour when the note is tilted (front center)
• A new see-through feature—that shows only a partial image of the sand dollar until it is heldup to a light source when a complete image of the sand dollar appears (front left, back right)
• Optically variable ink with colour shifts—so that when the note is tilted back and forth, varying images of the numeral 50 and the sand dollar appear in different colours (front left).”

For more information on Bahamian banknotes and the security features, the public is welcomed to call the Banking Department of the Central Bank at 242-302-2629 or visit the Bank’s website at www.centralbankbahamas.com.