...President Kufuor's Portrait is not on it

THE Bank of Ghana (BoG) will from December 16, this year, put into circulation two new denominations.

These are ?10,000 and ?20,000 denominations. The denominations have enhanced security features that make them difficult to duplicate.

Introducing samples of the currency notes to the press and some officials from the financial sector at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, a Deputy Governor of the Bank, Mr Lionel Van Lare Dosoo, said that some of the features of the new denominations are common.

He said the theme of the ?10,000 note is “Nationhood” which shows the picture of the “Big Six” who led Ghana’s struggle to independence in 1957. The back has a view of the Independence monument.

The ?20,000 note, which has “Culture” as its theme depicts the portrait of Dr Ephraim Amu, an artiste of international standing, whose most famous work “Yen ara Asase Ni” was created before Ghana’s independence in 1957, and then used as Ghana’s unofficial national anthem. The back view depicts the National Theatre.

Mr Dosoo said the new denominations will circulate alongside the existing notes and urged the general public not to rush to exchange any of the existing notes for the higher denominations.

The new denominations have six security features which include tactile square on the ?10,000 and a circle on the ?20,000 to help in the recognition of the notes by the visually impared and partially-sighted.

The ?10,000 note has a gold iridescent band showing a vertical row of stars, while the ?20,000 also has a gold iridescent band showing a vertical row of stars and ‘2000’.

A watermark of ‘Yaa Asantewaa’ is on both denominations and can be seen when viewed against light. Other security devices include a 3mm windowed metallic security thread and a micro-print with the text ‘Ghana 10,000 and Ghana 20,000.

It also has a see-through feature printed in perfect alignment with a pattern on the front. When held up to light, the pattern on the front fits exactly with the pattern on the back to form a complete design.

The 155 mm by 77.5mm ?10,000 and 160mm by 80mm ?20,000 notes are dated September 2, 2002 and bears the signature of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah.

Mr Dosoo said the bank will embark on a media campaign that will emphasise on the new security features as well as educate people on how to handle the notes properly to prevent early deterioration.

He said the total cost of printing all the new currency notes in the country for this year alone amounted to ?110 billion cedis and stressed that “all efforts must be made to ensure the proper handling of the currency.”