ECCB unveils redesigned EC banknotes honoring regional heroes

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has unveiled new EC banknote designs that replace Queen Elizabeth II with national leaders, Nobel laureates and other regional icons from the eight-member Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. The redesign also introduces the ECCB logo encircled by ECCU flags and signals a broader update to the currency system.

Why it matters: - The new EC banknotes shift the currency’s visual identity toward Eastern Caribbean history, leadership and achievement. - The redesign replaces a long-standing colonial-era portrait with figures selected to reflect each ECCU member country’s own legacy. - The update also extends to EC coins, signaling a wider currency refresh across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.

What happened: - The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank unveiled redesigned EC banknotes on Thursday, 9 July, during the Ceremony to Mark the Change in Chairmanship of the ECCB Monetary Council in the Commonwealth of Dominica. - Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine and members of the Monetary Council presented the new designs. - The banknotes no longer feature the likeness of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The details: - The $100 banknote now features Sir William Arthur Lewis, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979, and The Right Honourable Sir John George Melvin Compton of Saint Lucia. - The $50 banknote features former ECCB Governor The Honourable Sir K. Dwight Venner, who served from 1989 to 2015, and The Right Excellent Sir Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw of Saint Christopher [St Kitts] and Nevis. - The $20 banknote 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 banknote features The Most Excellent William Henry Bramble of Montserrat and The Honourable James Ronald Webster of Anguilla. - The $5 banknote features The Right Honourable Robert Milton Cato of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Sir Kirani James, LLD (Hons), of Grenada. - The new series features the ECCB logo encircled by the flags of the ECCU for the first time. - Sir K. Dwight Venner’s likeness now appears on the front of the $50 banknote instead of the back. - Sir William Arthur Lewis has moved from the back of the $100 banknote to the front. - The redesign for EC coins replaces the front likeness of Queen Elizabeth II with the ECCU logo. - Antoine said the Monetary Council invited the public to help shape the new currency design. - Antoine said the public called for the currency to honor “our own heroes, nation builders, and persons whose lives and achievements have enriched our countries and strengthened our region.” - The Governor said each participating member country was invited to nominate an individual whose life and legacy reflect service, leadership, scholarship and excellence.

Between the lines: - The redesign is more than a graphics update. It is a symbolic re-centering of the currency around regional identity. - The use of national figures across multiple denominations gives each ECCU member country representation in everyday cash use. - Moving the ECCB logo and ECCU flags onto the notes and coins reinforces a shared regional brand.

What's next: - The ECCB did not give a rollout date for circulation of the new banknotes and coins. - The redesigned currency will likely begin replacing older notes and coins as the system phases in the new series. - The public-facing design choice sets a template for how the ECCU may present itself in future currency updates. - More information is available through the ECCB’s social channels, including LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X.