The Bank of Ghana (BoG) will today, 06,03,2019 begin the circulation of the upgraded banknotes with enhanced security features.
Both the old and the new notes will be used concurrently until the old ones are phased out, officials say.
About the New Banknotes
The enhanced GHc10, GHc20 and GHc50 notes include a gold stripe, a watermark, a security thread and a colour changing spark live.
Per the new upgrade, the cowrie shell on the GHS10, the star on the GHS20 and the cocoa pod on the GHS50 will now have a shiny line in them which will move up and down when tilted.
That feature is called Optically Variable Magnetic Image. Another new feature is the New Enhanced Security Thread.
That will be a shiny broken line with movement that runs through the banknote from top to bottom.
It is continuous when viewed against light. When the note is tilted, a star expands and contracts while the denomination value stays still.
Also, the notes will have more prominent watermark.
With this, the image of Tetteh Quarshie with a cocoa pod would be more noticeable in the plain star area of the banknote. It becomes visible on both sides when viewed against light.
The denomination value can also be seen in the watermark area.
There is also the Enhanced Iridescent Band at the back of the banknote: That is a golden band with gold bars at the back of the banknote that runs from top to bottom. It can be seen more clearly when the note is tilted against light.
However, the Big Six portraits, denominational colours, of red for GHc1, yellow for GHc2, blue for GHc5, mauve for GHc20 and brown for GHc50 cedis will not change.
Dimensions of the various denominations and other principal and background images will also remain the same. – Additional files from Citi Fm