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Central banks around the world would love to issue banknotes that are impossible to counterfeit, but no such things exist. That’s because it doesn’t matter whether a fake note looks very close to the real deal or not, if you accept it, the counterfeiter has been successful.
In the absence of counterfeit-proof banknotes, central banks and other monetary authorities try to make life as difficult as possible for criminals by ensuring their banknotes contain lots of hard-to-reproduce security features that are at the same time simple and convenient for the public to use.
That’s precisely what the Central Bank of Barbados aimed for with its 2022 polymer banknotes series. With that in mind, here are four security features you should look for in your new notes.
One of the first things you notice when you get one of Barbados’ polymer banknotes is that you can see through it. Or at least part of it. That clear area near the bottom of the note is actually a security feature. Because polymer is hard to come by for the average criminal, most counterfeiters will print their fake notes on paper, which, of course, isn't see-through.
The first thing you should do when someone gives you a note is hold it up, or put your finger behind that area of the note and make sure you can see through it.
When you look through the clear window near the bottom of the note, you'll realise that there is an image inside it... specifically, an image that matches the one on the back of the note. Tilt the note, and the image catches the light.
On the lower denominations, the image gets a pearly sheen: the windmill on the $2 gets a blue and gold sheen, 3Ws Oval on the $5 gets a green sheen, and the bridge on the $10 turns bronze.
On higher denominations, the image is actually a hologram, so the Parliament Buildings ($20), Independence Square ($50), and Grantley Adams International Airport ($100) all catch the light and change colour. It's hard to miss! Plus, because the image is embedded in the transparent window, you're actually seeing two features at once, which makes checking your money fast and easy.
When you look through the clear window near the bottom of the note, you'll realise that there is an image inside it... specifically, an image that matches the one on the back of the note. Tilt the note, and the image catches the light.
On the lower denominations, the image gets a pearly sheen: the windmill on the $2 gets a blue and gold sheen, 3Ws Oval on the $5 gets a green sheen, and the bridge on the $10 turns bronze.
On higher denominations, the image is actually a hologram, so the Parliament Buildings ($20), Independence Square ($50), and Grantley Adams International Airport ($100) all catch the light and change colour. It's hard to miss! Plus, because the image is embedded in the transparent window, you're actually seeing two features at once, which makes checking your money fast and easy.
Look at the top right corner of the front of the note and you'll see a broken trident with an intricate pattern in it. There's a number - the value of the note - hidden in
it. To see it, you'll need to hold the note up to the light.
So, when you're lifting up your note to look through the transparent window, take a moment to look for the number hidden in the broken trident.
The final feature to look for doesn't require you to look at all. In fact, it's better if you feel.
For the 2022 banknote series, we've added raised shapes made up of dots on the backs of the notes. Each denomination has its own shape. The $2 has two lines, the $5 has an inverted triangle, the $10 an X, the $20 a circle, the $50 an L, and the $100 a square. These marks were added to help visually impaired Barbadians use their notes independently, but they also double as a security feature.
The see-through window, colour-shifting images, hidden number in the broken trident, and raised marks are only a few of the security features we've added in the 2022 series. In fact, there are more than a dozen, many of which you can learn about on our website. What makes these particularly useful is that they don't require you to have any special equipment – no ultraviolet (UV) light or magnifying glass. At the same time, a counterfeiter would have to expend a lot of effort and time to copy them convincingly.
These four features are examples of what we’ve done to make the 2022 polymer notes harder to simulate, yet easy to authenticate. But you still have to check your money. So, learn these features (and any others you like), and use them whenever you get one of the new notes.