ECCB unveils new EC banknotes honoring regional heroes

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has revealed redesigned EC banknotes that replace Queen Elizabeth II with national figures from across the eight-member Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. The new series, unveiled in Dominica on July 9, is meant to reflect regional identity and heritage across the currency used in the ECCU.

Why it matters: - The redesigned EC banknotes shift the region’s currency toward local identity, replacing colonial-era imagery with national heroes, builders and cultural figures. - The new notes are meant to reflect the people, heritage and achievements of the eight member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. - The redesign also extends to EC coins, which will replace the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II with the ECCU logo.

What happened: - Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine and members of the Monetary Council unveiled the new banknote designs on Thursday, July 9, during the Ceremony to Mark the Change in Chairmanship of the ECCB Monetary Council in Dominica. - The banknotes no longer feature the likeness of the late Queen Elizabeth II. - The ECCB said the public was invited to help shape the redesign, and each member country was invited to nominate a person whose life and legacy reflect service, leadership, scholarship and excellence.

The details: - The $100 banknote features Sir William Arthur Lewis, who won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economics, and The Right Honourable Sir John George Melvin Compton of Saint Lucia. - The $50 banknote features former ECCB Governor The Honourable Sir K. Dwight Venner, who served from 1989 to 2015, and The Right Excellent Sir Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw of Saint Christopher and Nevis. - The $20 banknote features The Right Honourable Sir Vere Cornwall Bird Snr of Antigua and Barbuda and The Honourable Dame Mary Eugenia Charles of Dominica. - The $10 banknote features The Most Excellent William Henry Bramble of Montserrat and The Honourable James Ronald Webster of Anguilla. - The $5 banknote features The Right Honourable Robert Milton Cato of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Sir Kirani James, LLD (Hons), of Grenada. - The ECCB logo encircled by the flags of the ECCU appears on the new banknote series for the first time. - Sir K. Dwight Venner now appears on the front of the $50 banknote instead of the back. - Sir William Arthur Lewis has moved from the back of the $100 banknote to the front.

Between the lines: - The currency change is also a symbolic reset, using notes and coins to reinforce a shared regional story across separate member states. - The decision to replace Queen Elizabeth II reflects a broader push to make the currency feel more locally rooted and less tied to former imperial imagery.

What's next: - The ECCB did not announce a launch date for circulation of the redesigned banknotes or coins in the release. - The bank said the redesign of EC coins will follow the same theme, with the ECCU logo replacing Queen Elizabeth II on the front.