ECCB unveils redesigned EC banknotes honoring regional heroes

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank unveiled new EC banknote designs on July 9 in Dominica, replacing Queen Elizabeth II with portraits of national and regional figures from across the eight-member ECCU. The redesign is meant to reflect public input and put the currency’s identity closer to the people it serves.

Why it matters: - The new banknotes shift the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union’s paper money toward regional identity and away from colonial-era imagery. - The redesign gives each participating ECCU member country a place on the currency through featured national figures. - The change also updates the EC currency brand with a new ECCB logo encircled by the flags of the ECCU.

What happened: - Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine and members of the ECCB Monetary Council unveiled the new designs on Thursday, July 9, during the Ceremony to Mark the Change in Chairmanship of the ECCB Monetary Council in Dominica. - The redesigned EC banknotes honor the people, heritage and achievements of the eight member countries of the ECCU. - The banknotes no longer feature the likeness of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The details: - The $100 note features Sir William Arthur Lewis, Nobel Prize for Economics winner in 1979, and The Right Honourable Sir John George Melvin Compton of Saint Lucia. - The $50 note features former ECCB Governor Sir K. Dwight Venner, who led the bank from 1989 to 2015, and The Right Excellent Sir Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw of Saint Christopher [St Kitts] and Nevis. - The $20 note features The Right Honourable Sir Vere Cornwall Bird Snr of Antigua and Barbuda and The Honourable Dame Mary Eugenia Charles of the Commonwealth of Dominica. - The $10 note features The Most Excellent William Henry Bramble of Montserrat and The Honourable James Ronald Webster of Anguilla. - The $5 note features The Right Honourable Robert Milton Cato of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Sir Kirani James, LLD (Hons), of Grenada. - The new banknote series includes the ECCB logo surrounded by ECCU flags for the first time. - Sir K. Dwight Venner’s likeness moves to the front of the $50 note from the back. - Sir William Arthur Lewis’s likeness moves to the front of the $100 note from the back. - The redesign for EC coins replaces Queen Elizabeth II’s likeness on the front with the ECCU logo.

Between the lines: - The public was invited to help shape the redesign, and the Monetary Council used that input to focus the new currency on “our own heroes, nation builders, and persons whose lives and achievements have enriched our countries and strengthened our region,” Antoine said. - The design choices suggest the ECCB is using currency as a tool for cultural symbolism as well as payment.

What's next: - The ECCB did not give a rollout date for the new notes and coins. - The new designs will enter circulation when the bank completes its production and distribution plan.

The bottom line: - The EC currency is being remade to reflect the region’s own leaders, history and shared identity.