ECCB unveils new EC banknote designs honoring regional heroes

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has unveiled redesigned EC banknotes that replace the late Queen Elizabeth II with national heroes and regional icons from across the eight-member Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. The new series, revealed in Dominica on July 9, also adds the ECCB logo surrounded by ECCU flags and signals a broader shift toward regional identity on currency.

Why it matters: - The redesigned Eastern Caribbean currency shifts the region’s banknotes toward local identity, heritage and achievement. - The new designs replace a longtime colonial-era portrait with figures chosen to reflect the ECCU’s own history, leadership and excellence. - The change affects both banknotes and coins across the eight member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.

What happened: - Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine and members of the ECCB Monetary Council unveiled the new banknote designs on Thursday, 9 July, in Dominica. - The redesign removes the likeness of the late Queen Elizabeth II from EC banknotes. - The ECCB said the public was invited to help shape the redesign, and each participating member country nominated an individual for the new series.

The details: - The $100 banknote 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 banknote features former ECCB Governor The Honourable 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 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 includes the ECCB logo encircled by the flags of the ECCU for the first time. - Sir K. Dwight Venner now appears on the front of the $50 note instead of the back. - Sir William Arthur Lewis moves from the back of the $100 note to the front. - EC coins will also be redesigned, with Queen Elizabeth II on the front replaced by the ECCU logo. - The announcement included social media links for LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X.

Between the lines: - The redesign is a symbolic break from the region’s colonial-era currency imagery. - The selection of figures across all eight ECCU member countries suggests an effort to present the currency as a shared regional project. - Moving key portraits to the front of higher-value notes gives the honored figures greater visibility.

What's next: - The ECCB did not provide a timetable in the release for when the redesigned notes and coins will enter circulation. - The central bank is expected to continue promoting the new currency series as part of the changeover. - The redesign may become a reference point for future ECCU identity and branding efforts.

The bottom line: - The EC currency is being reimagined as a regional showcase for Eastern Caribbean heroes, not imperial symbolism.