Ec Banknotes Feature Caribbean Icons
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has unveiled redesigned banknotes that replace the Queen’s image with portraits of regional leaders and heroes, and will put the ECCU logo on future coins. The move, announced July 9 in Dominica by ECCB Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine, reflects a regional push to celebrate local figures who shaped the Eastern Caribbean.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has unveiled new EC dollar banknote designs that, for the first time, place distinguished Caribbean leaders and national heroes on the front of the currency and remove the image of Queen Elizabeth II from future coinage. Antoine and members of the Monetary Council publicly revealed the designs on July 9 during a ceremony in Dominica marking a change in the Council’s chairmanship.
According to Governor Antoine, the redesign was guided by public input after the Monetary Council invited citizens across the currency union to help shape a new chapter in the region’s shared history. Each participating member country was asked to nominate an individual whose life and legacy exemplified service, leadership, scholarship and excellence.
The new banknotes and their featured figures are: EC$100: Nobel Prize-winning economist Sir William Arthur Lewis and Saint Lucia’s first Prime Minister Sir John Compton EC$50: Former ECCB Governor Sir K. Kitts and Nevis National Hero Sir Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw EC$20: Antigua and Barbuda’s first Prime Minister Sir Vere Cornwall Bird Sr. and Dominica’s first female Prime Minister Dame Eugenia Charles EC$10: Montserrat’s William Henry Bramble and Anguilla’s James Ronald Webster EC$5: St.
Vincent and the Grenadines’ Robert Milton Cato and Grenadian Olympic champion Sir Kirani James The redesign also introduces the official ECCU logo on banknotes for the first time — described by the ECCB as the bank emblem encircled by the flags of the eight member states — and moves certain portraits from the reverse to the front, notably Sir K.
Dwight Venner to the front of the EC$50 and Sir William Arthur Lewis to the front of the EC$100. Importantly for the British Virgin Islands and other territories that use the East Caribbean dollar, the ECCB said future EC coins will no longer carry the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II.
Instead, the obverse of coins will display the ECCU logo, signalling a stronger regional identity in the currency’s imagery. The ECCB called the initiative one of the most significant changes to the Eastern Caribbean currency since the bank’s establishment, framing it as an effort to honour regional nation-builders and to strengthen a shared sense of heritage.
The bank has not yet published a full rollout schedule for the release of the redesigned notes and coins; residents should watch for official announcements on timing and the replacement of current notes and coinage.
Primary source: VINO