The 1-cedi note dated 6th MARCH 2010 (BOG B45) is confirmed available with and without an electrotype 1 in the standard watermark of Tetteh Quarshie and cocoa pod.

It has been confirmed with a new electrotype variety:

On the earlier notes (BOG B45c), the 1 is outside the cocoa pod, below and to the right.


On the newer notes (BOG B45d), the 1 is partially on the cocoa pod, at left center.

Courtesy of Merjim Groen.

Tags: Ghana

According to a press release dated 9 July 2012, the Bank of Ghana intends to enhance the security of the 50-cedi banknote (BOG B49 / P41) by replacing the square holographic patch at lower right front with a cocoa pod printed in green-to-blue SPARK ink. The revised note is scheduled for introduction in early August 2012. The notes bear the signature of Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur because when they were printed in June, he was the governor of the bank, having served from 1 October 2009 to 6 August 2012. Notes to be issued later will however bear the signature of the new governor, as of yet unnamed.

Courtesy of Merjim Groen.

Tags: Ghana

10 cedis (US$6.50), 1st JULY 2011. Like BOG B47 (P39), but new date.

Courtesy of Andrew Roberts.

Tags: Ghana

5 cedis (US$3.25), 1st JULY 2011. Like BOG B46 (P38), but new date and signature (Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur).

20 cedis (US$13), 1st JULY 2011. Like BOG B48 (P40), but new date and signature (Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur).

Courtesy of Claudio Marana.

Tags: Ghana

The Ghana chapter of The Banknote Book is now available for individual sale at US$9.99, and as a free download to subscribers.

This 21-page catalog covers every note (278 types and varieties, including 92 notes unlisted in the SCWPM) issued by the Bank of Ghana from 1958 until until present day. Revised 17 November 2012.

Each chapter of The Banknote Book includes detailed descriptions and background information, full-color images, and accurate valuations. The Banknote Book also features:

• Sharp color images of note’s front and back without overlap
• Face value or date of demonetization if no longer legal tender
• Specific identification of all vignette elements
• Security features described in full
• Printer imprint reproduced exactly as on note
• Each date/signature variety assigned an individual letter
• Variety checkboxes for tracking your collection and want list
• Red stars highlight the many notes missing from the SCWPM
• Date reproduced exactly as on note
• Precise date of introduction noted when known
• Replacement note information
• Signature tables, often with names and terms of service
• Background information for historical and cultural context
• Details magnified to distinguish between note varieties
• Bibliographic sources listed for further research

Subscribe to The Banknote Book
If you collect the entire world or a large number of countries, buying a $99 annual subscription is the best deal because it's less expensive than buying chapters individually, and it entitles you to every chapter currently available as well as everything published—or revised (click here to see the Change Log)—during the next 12 months.


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Tags: Ghana

Today’s challenge is to identify the building which appears on the back of the old 20,000-cedi note of Ghana.

If you can precisely identify the name and location of this building—or have a lead which you think might be useful—please post a comment, preferably including a URL which links to evidence supporting your identification.

This building appears on the back of all of the 20,000-cedi notes from 2002-2006 (Pick 36):

IDENTIFIED: National Theatre of Ghana in Accra.

Courtesy of Frederick Martin.

Tags: Ghana

On early 1-cedi notes dated 6th MARCH 2010, the watermark is Tetteh Quarshie, a cacao pod, and Cornerstones. On later issues with the same date and signature, an electrotype denomination numeral has been added.

Collectors are encouraged to check the other denominations also dated 6th MARCH 2010 to see whether they can confirm any without the electrotype denomination in the watermark, or if this variety appears on the 1-cedi notes only.

In addition to the different watermark, there’s also a change in the brown underprint bar to the left of the words BANK OF GHANA on the front of the note. On the earlier 2010 notes, the bar is ragged with ill-defined edges, but on later 2010 notes, the bar has straight edges, as on the 2007 notes.

Anyone interested in buying one of these notes can contact the contributor by clicking the link below. Be sure to say you saw it mentioned on Banknotenews.com.

Courtesy of Andrew Roberts and Ricardo Castedo.

Tags: Ghana

50 cedis (US$33.75), 6th MARCH 2010. Like P41, but new date, new signature (Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur), and electrotype denomination added to the watermark.

Courtesy of Andrew Roberts.

Tags: Ghana

20 cedis (US$3.50), 6th MARCH 2010. Like P38, but new date, new signature (Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur), and electrotype denomination added to the watermark.

Courtesy of Claudio Marana.

Tags: Ghana

10 cedis (US$7), 6th MARCH 2010. Like P39, but new date, new signature (Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur), and electrotype denomination added to the watermark.

Courtesy of Claudio Marana.

Tags: Ghana

Check out this interesting article on Ghana Business News.

Tags: Ghana

I am working on a new catalog of world notes and I need all the help I can get. If you have any of the notes listed below, please email 300-dpi, 100% actual size, 24-bit color scans of the front and back of these notes, saved as uncompressed JPEG, BMP, or TIFF. Please download and follow these detailed scanning instructions.

I am looking for 300-dpi images of the following banknotes of British West Africa:

P3 issued or specimen
P4 with Arabic text on back
P5 with blank back
P6 issued note, not specimen
P7 dated 2ND JANUARY, 1930, 21ST JULY, 1930, 10TH DECEMBER, 1943, 29TH NOVEMBER, 1948, and 28TH JULY, 1950
P8 dated December, 1947
P11 dated 31ST MARCH 1953

As a contributor, you will receive the satisfaction of taking part in creating something of excellence, your note will be immortalized as the plate note for the catalog, plus your name will appear in the Acknowledgements along with your email address or URL, if you wish.

Thanks in advance for everyone's cooperation!

Tags: British West Africa, Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone

1 cedi (US$0.70), 6th MARCH 2010. Like P37, but new date, new signature (Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur), and electrotype denomination added to the watermark.

Courtesy of Claudio Marana.

Tags: Ghana

On 14 May 2010, the Bank of Ghana introduced a new 2-cedi (US$1.40) banknote to meet public need for an intermediary denomination and reduce the frequency, and associated cost, of printing large volumes of the GH¢1 banknote. The bank also acknowledges that the use of a single, identical portrait (The Big Six) on all the five denominations introduced in the July 2007 re-denomination exercise (and the previous ¢10,000 banknote that was withdrawn from circulation in 2007) makes it hard for the public to distinguish between denominations. As such, the bank has chosen to recognize departed national heroes who positively impacted on the lives of Ghanaians, such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, whose portrait appears on the new 2-cedi note in commemoration of the centenary of his birth. The back of the note depicts the old and new Parliament buildings, signifying Ghana’s deepening democracy.

The introduction of the new coincides with the conclusion of the year-long centenary celebrations of the birth of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, and has the commemorative text “CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF DR. KWAME NKRUMAH”. Future issues of the GH¢2 banknote are not expected to have this text; making this introductory issue a collector’s item.

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

Courtesy of Dieter Eheim.

Tags: Ghana

A complete specimen set of Ghana’s current banknote issues (dated 1st July 2007) has been reported and confirmed. These specimens have diagonal red SPECIMEN overprints and all-zero serial numbers.

Courtesy of Leszek Porowski.

Tags: Ghana

1,000 cedis. 10TH JUNE 1994. Like P29, but new date.

Courtesy of Christof Zellweger.

Tags: Ghana

5,000 cedis (US$0.50), 4th AUGUST 2006. Like P34, but new date.

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 Chris Twining.

Tags: Ghana

10,000 cedis (US$1.05), 4th August 2006. Like P35, but new date. Signature remains Dr. Paul A. Acquah, GOVERNOR.

Courtesy of Andrew Roberts.

Tags: Ghana

The Bank of Ghana has released a 20,000-cedis (US$2.10) note dated 4th August 2006. It appears to be identical to Pick 36, except for the new date. The previously cataloged dates are 2nd September 2002 and 4th August 2003.

Courtesy of Marcel Goudbeek (IBNS member 9246).

Tags: Ghana

On 3 May 2007, the Bank of Ghana unveiled the following new family of notes was scheduled for issuance on 1 July 2007.  On the front they all feature the printed date of 1st JULY 2007, an image of Independence Arch, the signature of Governor Dr. Paul Acquah, and a conjoined portrait of the “Big Six:” Kwame Nkrumah, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey, and William Ofori Atta. All of the notes have the following security features: windowed security thread, novel serial numbers, registration device, portrait of Tetteh Quarshie and cocoa pod as wmk, denomination as latent image and intaglio printed in gold ink, and iridescent band.


1 Ghana cedi (US$1.10), June 2007. Red. Front: Freedom and Justice arch in Independence Square; Kwame Nkrumah; Ebenezer Ako Adjei; Edward Akufo-Addo; Joseph Boakye Danquah; Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey; William Ofori Atta. Back: Akosombo Dam. Windowed security thread with demetalized GHANA 1. Watermark: Tetteh Quarshie, cacao pod, and Cornerstones. Printer: Unknown. 137 x 65 mm.


5 Ghana cedis (US$5.40), June 2007. Blue. Front: Freedom and Justice arch in Independence Square; Kwame Nkrumah; Ebenezer Ako Adjei; Edward Akufo-Addo; Joseph Boakye Danquah; Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey; William Ofori Atta. Back: University of Ghana; tower; buildings; sculpture. Windowed security thread with demetalized GHANA 5. Watermark: Tetteh Quarshie, cacao pod, and Cornerstones. Printer: Unknown. 141 x 68 mm.


10 Ghana cedis (US$10.80), June 2007. Green. Front: Freedom and Justice arch in Independence Square; Kwame Nkrumah; Ebenezer Ako Adjei; Edward Akufo-Addo; Joseph Boakye Danquah; Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey; William Ofori Atta. Back: Bank of Ghana headquarters buildings. Holographic patch. Windowed security thread with demetalized GHANA 10. Watermark: Tetteh Quarshie, cacao pod, and Cornerstones. Printer: Unknown. 145 x 71 mm.


20 Ghana cedis (US$21.55), June 2007. Purple. Front: Freedom and Justice arch in Independence Square; Kwame Nkrumah; Ebenezer Ako Adjei; Edward Akufo-Addo; Joseph Boakye Danquah; Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey; William Ofori Atta. Back: Supreme Court building. Holographic patch. Red-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized GHANA 20. Watermark: Tetteh Quarshie, cacao pod, and Cornerstones. Printer: Unknown. 149 x 74 mm.


50  Ghana cedis (US$53.90), June 2007. Brown. Front: Freedom and Justice arch in Independence Square; Kwame Nkrumah; Ebenezer Ako Adjei; Edward Akufo-Addo; Joseph Boakye Danquah; Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey; William Ofori Atta. Back: Christianborg Castle (seat of government) building. Holographic patch. Red-to-green windowed security thread with demetalized GHANA 50. Watermark: Tetteh Quarshie, cacao pod, and Cornerstones. Printer: Unknown. 153 x 77 mm.

Tags: Ghana