The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) has chosen Bermuda’s $2 note, issued as part of an entirely new series in 2009, as the 2010 Bank Note of the Year. Each year the IBNS recognizes an exceptional banknote issued in the previous year and, from nine very impressive nominations issued in 2009, the Bermuda $2 note was a clear winner.

The award-winning note portrays the Bermuda Bluebird (Sialia sialis) on the front and the Dockyard Clock Tower and Statue of Neptune on the back. As with all notes in the new Bermuda series, the head of HM Queen Elizabeth II appears in a reduced format on the front of the note, the portrait being a mirror of the Machin Head design which appears on the postage stamps of the Royal Mail.

The members of the IBNS Board, who chose the winning note, considered the Bermuda $2 note an example of the most attractive elements which create interest among the ever-widening community of banknote collectors and those who take an interest in the development of paper money. They said the combination of colours were appealing and blended well throughout all components of the design. Additionally, the range of items depicted on the note were attractively presented and allowed the eye to linger and to search for natural and historical design elements which were not immediately apparent.

One of the factors recommending the note to the judges was an interesting array of security features, despite its low face value. These include an Optiks™ embedded metallic thread, with an aperture on the front depicting the island; a Hibiscus watermark on the top section on the front; the Cornerstone™—a watermark feature on the four corners of the note enhancing the durability of the banknote; and, on the back, the Gemini™ feature portraying a compass which fluoresces in two colours under UV light.

Manufactured by De La Rue and released as part of a new series by the Bermuda Monetary Authority in February 2009, the series was the first major re-design of Bermudian banknotes for 40 years. The object of the series was to present depictions of Bermuda, with the series reflecting the natural beauty of the flora and fauna of the island on one side and the island’s architectural heritage on the other.

Working from a detailed brief from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, the initial concept designs for the series were created by Gene Bothwick, one of De La Rue’s long-serving designers, who retired in 2007 after 23 years of service. These concepts were then developed for production by the De La Rue banknote Preliminaries Department with input and guidance from the Monetary Authority.

The IBNS congratulates the Bermuda Monetary Authority and De La Rue on an exceptional banknote.

Tags: Bermuda

10 dollars (US$10). Like Pick 52, but new date (7 MAY 2007) and new signatures.

Courtesy of TDS.

Tags: Bermuda

2 dollars (US$2). Like Pick 50, but new date (7 MAY 2007) and new signatures.

50 dollars (US$50), 7 MAY 2007. Like P54, but new date and new signatures (Alan F. Richardson, CHAIRMAN; Robert Steinhoff, DIRECTOR).

Both the 2- and 50-dollar notes have been seen with this new date. The Bermuda Monetary Authority recently confirmed that 10- and 20-dollar notes have also been issued dated 7 MAY 2007. If anyone has these denominations with this date, please send scans so that I can post them.

Anyone interested in buying this note can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com.

Courtesy of Ömer Yalcinkaya.

Tags: Bermuda

A new variety 20-dollar note from Bermuda has been confirmed. Pick 53a (prefix D/1) at top has a silver foil patch in the shape of an artist’s palette at lower left front, but on the new variety (prefix D/2) the foil patch has a smaller 20, and the artwork to the right includes flowers. Both notes are dated 24 MAY 2000 and have the same signature combinations, and the other security features seem to be unchanged.

Courtesy of Claudio Marana.

Tags: Bermuda

On 20 February 2009, the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) celebrated 40 years of service, and the island of Bermuda celebrated the 400th anniversary of its settlement by British explorer Sir George Somers. The BMA is marking these landmark occasions by launching the first complete redesign of Bermuda’s banknotes since the Bermuda dollar was issued in 1969. Planning for this launch commenced in 2005, and the BMA received the permission and support of the minister of finance and the cabinet for this new design in the summer of 2007. The objectives of the launch are to update the design of the Bermuda note family, the basic design of which has been in place since 1969; to provide a distinct Bermuda design, and clearly distinguish the note family from the designs of other countries; to provide a sense of national pride and easy identification with the features by the Bermudian public; to combat counterfeiting by increasing the security features; and to issue notes that are durable in the island’s tropical climate. The new banknotes were unveiled on November 24, 2008, and were introduced on March 9, 2009. Subject to the minister of finance’s approval, the BMA is also planning to issue commemorative note and coin products celebrating the 400th anniversary of Bermuda’s settlement.


2 dollars
Turquoise. Front (vertical): QEII; bluebird; flowers; butterfly; sail boats. Back (vertical): Butterflies; compass rose; dockyard clock tower; statue of Neptune. Optiks security thread. Watermark: Hibiscus flower and electrotype sail boat. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 136 x 69 mm. 1 JANUARY 2009. Signatures: R. Alan F. Richardson and E. Barclay Simmons. Introduced 03.09.2009.


5 dollars
Pink. Front (vertical): QEII; blue marlin fish; flowers; dolphin. Back (vertical): Butterflies; bird of paradise flower; Horseshoe Bay beach; boat passing beneath Somerset bridge. Optiks security thread. Watermark: Hibiscus flower and electrotype sail boat. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 136 x 69 mm. 1 JANUARY 2009. Signature R. Alan F. Richardson and unknown. Introduced 03.09.2009.


10 dollars
Purple. Front (vertical): QEII; blue angel fish; coral; sea turtle. Back (vertical): Anchor; butterflies; ship “The Deliverance;” cannon; Commissioner’s House building in Somerset Parish. Optiks security thread. Watermark: Hibiscus flower and electrotype sail boat. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 136 x 69 mm. 1 JANUARY 2009. Signatures: R. Alan F. Richardson and Lynda Milligan-Whyte. Introduced 03.09.2009.


20 dollars
Green. Front (vertical): QEII; whistling frog; flowers; lizard. Back (vertical): Butterflies; St. Mark’s church; Gibbs Hill lighthouse in Southampton Parish. Optiks security thread. Watermark: Hibiscus flower and electrotype sail boat. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 136 x 69 mm. 1 JANUARY 2009. Signatures: R. Alan F. Richardson and unknown. Introduced 03.09.2009.


50 dollars
Yellow. Front (vertical): QEII; longtail tropic bird; flowers. Back (vertical): Butterflies; St. Peter’s church in town of St. George. Optiks security thread. Watermark: Hibiscus flower and electrotype sail boat. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 136 x 69 mm. 1 JANUARY 2009. Signatures: R. Alan F. Richardson and unknown. Introduced 03.09.2009.

Note: Shortly after the unveiling of the new note designs, ornithologist David Wingate complained that the $50 features a red-billed tropicbird instead of a local white-tailed tropicbird. BMA officials apologized for the error, but won’t change the design because they feel the red bill of the larger bird looks better against the pale yellow background than the orange of the local bird.


100 dollars
Red. Front (vertical): QEII; Red cardinal bird; flowers. Back (vertical): Butterflies; House of Assembly building in Hamilton; cahow bird. Optiks security thread. Watermark: Hibiscus flower and electrotype sail boat. Printer: TDLR (w/o imprint). 136 x 69 mm. 1 JANUARY 2009. Signatures: R. Alan F. Richardson and Robert Steinhoff. Introduced 03.09.2009.

Anyone interested in buying this note can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned here on Banknotenews.com.

Courtesy of Ömer Yalcinkaya.

Tags: Bermuda