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Governor’s Remarks for the Launch of the CRISP Evolution $100 Banknote

Published: Thursday October 7th, 2021

 

Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Training, the Honorable Glenys Hanna-Martin, invited guests, and colleagues:

Today we celebrate the launch of the Central Bank’s CRISP Evolution $100 banknote. This is the final note to be redesigned in the ongoing initiative to modernize the Bahamian family of banknotes. The first note issued under the new CRISP Evolution series was the $10 note in 2016.

Today’s release marks the end of a four-year process, to produce a modern, innovative, secure and culturally relevant banknote. Immediately noticeable is the change in colour to predominantly brown, with shades of red and yellow. The installation of the late Arthur Dion Hanna, former Governor General, former Deputy Prime Minister, and former Minister of Finance of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas on the front of this banknote continues a tradition of paying reverence to our national heroes and nation builders.

By way of information, CRISP is an acronym for counterfeit resistant, integrated security product. The evolution means that this is the second revamp of all widely circulating Bahamian notes—the first such modernization took place between 2005 – 2009. The CRISP Evolution series adds more sophisticated safeguards against counterfeiting, again purposely tailored to each denomination.

Alongside the pride expressed by Bahamians, and the admiration shown by visitors to our shores, this effort to modernize Bahamian banknotes has gained international recognition. In fact, in 2007 the CRISP $5 note was nominated for Banknote of the Year by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS); in 2016, the CRISP Evolution $10 bill received the same distinction; while in 2020, the new $50 note was nominated by the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) for Best New Currency Product or Feature. These are outstanding achievements, when one considers the many dozens of new banknote designs and innovations that are released annually.

I wish to recognize the representatives here today of some of our trusted and valued suppliers involved in producing this banknote, specifically:

  • Antonio Ricio and Richard Perera of Landqart, responsible for the sturdy Durasafe substrate on which this note, as well as the $50 banknote, are printed;
  • Michael Saunders of Crane Currency, which supplied the vibrant Motion Surface stripe on the back of the note;
  • Yadira Sierra of SICPA, which provided the security inks; and of course
  • Sami Elton of Canadian Bank Note Company, which optimized the design and printed the note.

Thank you all for your hard work on this project.

We are exceptionally pleased to have with us today members of Mr. Hanna’s family to commemorate this occasion. For our gratitude, we present the family with a 40-on framed sheet of the newly released banknote. We are also honored to present the family with the first issued bill—with Serial Number 1. To this end, I would like to invite the Honorable Glenys Hanna-Martin to accept this token on behalf of the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

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