New Releases
Thailand issued a special commemorative 500 Bhat banknote in celebration of the Queen's 7th cycle birthday. The banknotes started circulation on the 11th of Augusts 2016. A total run of 20 million of these banknotes were printed and are set to circulate as legal tender currency, at least the ones that don't get scooped up by collectors will.
Thailand 2016 Commemorative 500 Bhat Banknote Obverse
Thailand 2016 Commemorative 500 Bhat Banknote Reverse
Colombia has issued a new 50 000 Peso banknote, this follows the introduction of last month's 20 000 Peso note. This makes the third new banknote that Colombia has introduced this year, with the first being the 100 000 Peso back in March. The new series boasts new designs and vastly improved security measures over their predecessors.
Columbia 2016 50 000 Peso Banknote Obverse
Columbia 2016 50 000 Peso Banknote Reverse
Gibraltar is releasing a new polymer 100 Pound banknote featuring Sir Joshua Hassan. Hassan was a key figure in Gibraltar politics and is known as "Salvador" or savior to his people. He was the first Chief minister of Gibraltar.
Gibraltar 2016 100 Pound Polymer Banknote
Other News
We have seen several unconfirmed reports that the Central Bank of Bahrain is planning to update the security features on it's current series of banknotes. The current series of banknotes were first issued almost ten years ago so the reports do make sense but there has been no official confirmation just yet. The 10 and 20 Dinar notes(p29 and p28) are being mentioned specifically, as soon as there is any official word from the Bahrain authorities WNN will be sure to report on it here.
A very interesting lot has come up for auction at Stacks and Bowers this month. A set of six specimen notes from an unissued run of Belorussian banknotes from 1993. The banknotes were officially printed for the Belarus government in Germany. The Belarus Central Bank even took possession of the new banknotes, but opted to wait for the political and inflationary climate to stabilize before issuing the new notes for circulation. However, before they could do so the countries state emblem was changed rendering the 'new' banknotes unusable as the old symbol was prominently used in the design. It was assumed that all of these unissued banknotes were destroyed thereafter.
The set of six notes were all verified by PMG as Gen Uncirculated 66 or 67, and are annotated as “Printer's Design”. The set has an opening bid of US$6000
Minor Updates
Egypt has released a new 50 Pound banknote which is similar in design to the current circulating ones(p66) but that possesses a re-designed slightly larger security thread down the middle. It also replaces the pattern in the top right corner of the obverse with an OVI(Optically Variable Ink) patch which changes colour as the note is tilted.
Egypt 2016 50 Pound Note with OVI patch at top right and larger security thread
Egypt 2016 50 Pound Note reverse
Singapore has updated their 100 Dollar banknote(p42/p50) with the addition of a small diamond symbol on the reverse side. The symbol appears to the lower left just under the “YOUTH” depiction.
Singapore 2016 updated 100 Dollar Banknote Obverse
Singapore 2016 updated 100 Dollar Banknote Reverse
New 500 Taka banknotes from Bangladesh have entered into circulation that bear updated signature and date of 2016.
Bangladesh 2016 500 Taka Banknote
Bangladesh 2016 500 Taka Banknote Reverse
Sudanese 2 Pound banknotes(p70) have been found in circulation with new signatures on the obverse and a new date, March 2015, on the reverse.
Singapore 2015 2 Pound Banknote Reverse
Singapore 2015 2 Pound Banknote
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank(ECCB) has issued updated banknotes that feature a larger and more secure security thread. The $10, $20, $50 and $100 banknotes are affected by this update, leaving only the $5 note as is. The rest of the design is unaffected. The ECCB is the central monetary authority for the island nations of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Eastern Caribbean 2016 banknotes