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Check Your Notes: The Central Bank of Barbados Cautions
As the busy Christmas season approaches, the Central Bank is encouraging the public to be vigilant when completing cash transactions so as to avoid falling victims to counterfeiters.
“All Barbadian banknotes, and especially the new series, contain security features that are hard to duplicate and at the same time easy and quick to use,” explained Celeste Wood, Adviser to the Governor and Currency. “But these features can only be effective if people use them.”
The Bank disclosed that it is often during times of high commercial activity that criminals will attempt to pass fake money.
“Counterfeiters are counting on you to be too busy, too distracted to check your money,” Wood warned. “Don’t allow them to fool you. Learn three or four security features and check for them every time.”
Major features of the 2013 series:
- Two watermarks on the left of the note that become visible when the note is held up to the light. For each denomination, these watermarks are the person featured on the portrait and the note’s denomination.
- A security thread near the centre of the note. The thread initially appears as a series of bars printed from the top to the bottom of the paper, but when the note is held up to light it becomes an unbroken line that reads “CBB” and the note’s denomination. On the $2, $5, and $10, the bars are silver and wave-like, while on the $20, $50 and $100, the bars change colour from red to green when the note is tilted.
- A holographic patch on the right of the $50 and $100 note. On the $50, the main image is the pelican, while on the $100 the main image is the heraldic dolphin. When the note is tilted, that image, as well as the background images – broken tridents, Pride of Barbados flowers and the note’s denomination – appear and disappear and change colour.
- Images that glow under UV light. Under UV light, the waves and broken trident in the centre of the note fluoresce. On the $2, $5, and $10, these glow in a shade of green, while on higher denominations, they glow in two colours: pink and green ($20), green and yellow ($50) and yellow and green ($100). Tiny fibres also fluoresce under UV light and the note’s denomination appears.
Major features of the 2007 series:
- A watermark on the left of the note that features the map of Barbados. The image becomes visible when the note is held up to the light.
- A secondary watermark to the right of the primary watermark. On the $2, $5, and $10, the image is of the broken trident. On the $20, $50 and $100, the image is of the Pride of Barbados flower.
- A security thread near the centre of the note. The thread initially appears as a series of bars printed from the top to the bottom of the paper, but when the note is held up to light it becomes an unbroken line that reads “CBB” and the note’s denomination. On the $2, $5, and $10, the bars are silver and wave-like, while on the $20, $50 and $100, the bars have a silver sheen. The security thread on the higher denominations fluoresces under UV light.
- A highly reflective foil on the right of the $50 and $100. On the $50, there is an aquamarine pelican, while on the $100, there is a gold dolphin. On both notes, the foil is overprinted with the Pride of Barbados flower.
Images of the new notes and more information about the security features of this and previous series can be found on the Central Bank of Barbados website, www.centralbank.org.bb
December 16, 2013
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