ECCB $2 Commemorative

The note was launched as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. It celebrates the marine life of the region and features the image of former West Indies cricketer (and living National Hero) Sir Vivian Richards.

The ECCB $2 commemorative note was intended to be a symbol of hope, with Governor Antoine paying tribute to the “Master Blaster” during the launch saying “We hope we can rekindle, through this act, a consciousness about Caribbean Civilisation, self-belief, a sense of purpose and fearlessness as you so ably demonstrated on the field of play.”

This note also tested banknote design integration – it represents a step-change in the evolution of polymer banknote secure windows. Multiple different security and design features were layered together – each contribuing different parts to a detailed marine life scene.

The security and design features were based on different technologies. It is the first note to be manufactured with a combination of blue hologram, ARGENTUM™ (a highly specialised and mirror-like silver ink) and ILLUMINATE™ (a design feature that builds up texture, strong colours and intrigue around a polymer window via layering of specialist gravure inks).

The security and design features were also applied via different processes, thus requiring particular skill to ensure the resulting seemless integration into a single coherent image. ARGENTUM™ and ILLUMINATE™ both form part of the SAFEGUARD® polymer substrate, whereas holograms are applied during banknote manufacture.

This type of integration is necessary as part of arms race against the counterfeiters. The multiple intricate aesthetic details mitigate against the risk of commercially available stickers, the combination of multiple technologies introduces multiple hurdles to simulation, the presence of an intricate window helps prevent simple colour copying and the adoption of feature shapes and effects that form part of an image aid public recognition.

The ECCB $2 commemorative note represents a step-change in design integration and secure polymer windows.

The innovative and unique element of this note is demonstrated via a cohesive marine life scene, which is composed of multiple different public security and design features that combine to form a single scene in a complex polymer window.

A public security feature would usually be displayed as a single item to look at (any integration attempts may manifest as the feature being registered to parts of the print or having an image reflecting the theme of the note incorporated via its shape or effects). In most notes the feature is rarely part of a montage buidling to a bigger image or is only combined into a bigger image in a relatively simplistic way.

In the ECCB $2 commemorative note multiple different security and design features, based on different technologies and requiring different manufacturing processes (some at the substrate manufacturing stage and some at the banknote manufacturing stage), came together to each contribute a part of a coheseive marine life scene.

The ECCB $2 was the first note in the world to be manufactured with a combination of blue hologram, ARGENTUM™ (a highly specialised and mirror-like silver ink) and ILLUMINATE™ (a design feature that builds up texture, strong colours and intrigue around a polymer window via layering of specialist gravure inks). This required R&D development work to optimise the SAFEGUARD® polymer substrate so that certain specialist inks and an applied foil could be used in combination.

The security and design features were also applied via different processes, thus requiring particular skill to ensure the resulting seemless integration into a single coherent image. ARGENTUM™ and ILLUMINATE™ both form part of the SAFEGUARD® polymer substrate, whereas holograms are applied during banknote manufacture.

The overall strategy for this innovative part of the ECCB $2 commemorative note was to push the boundaries of design by producing a highly secure and complex window that was also a compelling and engaging image.

Banknotes are sometimes described as pieces of secure art in your pocket. In this instance a single artistic scene was also made highly secure within part of the note.

In delivering this integration the SAFEGUARD® polymer substrate design incorporated some parts of the marine life image. The rest of the marine life image was only completed at the banknote manufacturing stage. Whereas layering of different security features is standard in banknote manufacture the ECCB $2 layered different security and design featuers to form a single marine life image – the first complex image and artistic scene formed of different secuity features in a polymer window.

The type of integration whereby security and design features are specifically layered into a detailed scene in a polymer window is necessary as part of arms race against the counterfeiters.

The multiple intricate aesthetic details mitigate against the risk of commercially available shiny/moving “stickers” being used to copy a security feature (there is no longer a security feature to simulate but an entire artistic scene). The combination of multiple technologies introduces multiple hurdles to simulation. The presence of a particularly intricate window helps prevent simple colour copying. The adoption of feature shapes and effects that form part of an image aid public recognition, so not only is the note virtually impossible to simulate convincingly, any attempts have to be nearly perfect in order for the image to look right.

The ECCB $2 commemorative note design ultimately evolved from design concept development work that was iteratively refined to push the boundaries of what is possible with polymer windows.

The desire to have combinational features in complex windows has been tested via central bank design workshops (and the ability to have both ARGENTUM™ and holograms combined on a banknote has been requested already by several customers).

All of De La Rue security features are required to pass standard industry chemical and physical testing as part of the R&D stage gate process. They also must satisfy adversarial testing and demonstrate a high level of counterfeit resilience.

In this particular instance the requirement to combine features that had never been combined before meant that the SAFEGUARD® polymer substrate had to be optimised. This required R&D work, manufacturing trials and the development of new design rules to specifically test and capture the rules about how to combine the features involved.

And customer sign-off of concepts and proofs were signed-off as standard, following De La Rue’s banknote design process.

According to the ECCB website “The EC$2 commemorative banknote, which the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) launched on 1 December, is expected to be a symbol of hope which will inspire greatness in the people of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.”

The note was in commemoration of ECCB’s 40th anniversary and showcases a portrait of the legendary cricketer, Sir Vivian Richards, affectionately known as “the Master Blaster.” Ruby red elements within the portrait honour the milestone anniversary. Further amplifying the note’s aesthetic appeal is an intricate aquatic ecosystem design, signifying the Caribbean’s thriving marine life.

Governor Antoine paying tribute to Sir Vivian Richards during the launch saying “We hope we can rekindle, through this act, a consciousness about Caribbean Civilisation, self-belief, a sense of purpose and fearlessness as you so ably demonstrated on the field of play.”

This commemorative note was very apt for the occasion of the ECCB’s 40th anniversy – the ECCB issues banknotes and banknotes capture the objects, culture, history and aspirations of a nation. The ECCB $2 is therefore very fitting in this context.