Curacao and Sint Maarten wins
2025 IBNS Bank Note of Year Award
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The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) announces that its voting
membership has for the first time selected the Central Bank of Curacao
and Sint Maarten to receive its annual prestigious “Bank Note of the
Year Award” for 2025.
With almost 100 new banknotes released worldwide during 2025, only 17
were deemed of sufficiently new design to be member nominated. From
the onset of voting the Curacao and Sint Maarten 200 Gulden note was
the overwhelming favorite.
The 200 Gulden is part of a new series launched by the Central Bank
with 5 denominations, all drawing inspiration from the “World Under
the Sea.” The face of each note is horizontally orientated and
features marine life native to the islands while the reverse is
vertically orientated with historical and cultural landmarks. The
winning note is the largest denomination of the set and is
predominantly purple and features long snout seahorses and a giant tun
shell in blue-to-green OVI on the face. The back of the note showcases
the iconic Queen Emma Bridge.
This series of notes are printed on paper by Crane Currency and
integrated with many security features: a compass rose watermark with
letters XCG, a 3D moving stripe, high-relief printing, color-changing
ink, security threads that create an illusion of moving waves,
iridescent color, and a see-through register. The tactile markings
along the short edges of each banknote help the visually impaired to
easily identify the note which is signed by Richard A. Doornbosch
(President) and Leila A. Matroos-Lasten (Directory Secretary of the
Central Bank).
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The current exchange value of the new Curacao and Sint Maarten bill equals
$111 USD, €95 Euros or £83 British Pounds as of the date of this announcement.
The 200 Gulden note is 147 x 66 mm, similar in height but slightly shorter
than U.S. greenbacks.
Winners of recent IBNS Banknote of the Year competitions are all miniature
works of art that represent their nation's popular themes. These winners
ideally help provide a superb template as countries consider how they
eventually design and promote their own new banknotes. Polymer banknotes
continue to be popular IBNS favorites and have become perennial award winners,
although this year is an exception. Vertical orientation seems favored with 8
of the last 10 winners being vertically formatted. This year's winner is a
hybrid horizontal front and vertical back.
From all significant newly designed and widely circulated banknotes released
in 2025, the IBNS membership nominated notes from 17 different countries to
place on the ballot. Nominees represented 3 different continents (Africa,
Asia, Europe), Central America, the Middle East, and 5 island nations. The
first runner-up was Fiji's 5 Dollar note which features a kulawai bird and sea
turtle. The second runner-up was Zambia's 100 Kwacha note which features an
eagle and giraffes. Rounding out the top five vote getters were Falkland
Islands' 5 Pound note (King Charles III), and Papua New Guinea's 50 Kina note
(bird of paradise).
Past “Bank Note of the Year” winners include Bermuda (2024), East Caribbean
States (2023), Philippines (2022), Mexico (2021 & 2020), Aruba (2019),
Canada (2018), Switzerland (2017 & 2016), New Zealand (2015), Trinidad
& Tobago (2014), Kazakhstan (2013, 2012 & 2011), Uganda (2010),
Bermuda (2009), Samoa (2008), Bank of Scotland (2007), Comoros (2006), Faeroe
Islands (2005) and Canada (2004).
