...Solomon Islands - 2013/2015 New Series

Denton Hehenoro Rarawa / Shadrach Fanega

Fifty Dollars (Hybrid Note)

nd2013

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Solomon Islands new $50 ND2013 new hybrid note. On 26.09.2013, Solomon Islands announced the release of a new series of banknotes. The $50 is the first denomination released, with the rest of the new banknotes to be issued over the course of the next few years. The imprinter of the new note is De La Rue which incorporates the company's famous Optiks™ super wide security thread with a transparent window. The new note was launched by Governor Denton Rarawa and was attended by a number of VIPs including the Finance Minister Rick Hou. This is an exciting time for collectors especially those who like Hybrid notes. With this $50 hybrid note released, it is expected that the rest of the series will also be printed by DLR and with that, we would expect the new $100 to be another hybrid note as well. Solomon Islands is the forth nation (after Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Fiji) to have issued banknotes in Paper, Polymer and now Hybrid. And it is interesting to note that all these nations are located in the Oceania/Pacific region too.

One Hundred Dollars (Hybrid)

nd2015, A/1 000088

nd2015, Replacement Note X/1

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This is the latest of the Solomon Islands new family of notes. This new $100 note was launched/introduced into circulation on 10.04.2015 in Honiara by the Central Bank Government Denton Rarawa. This is the highest and the second denomination for the new series following the first release of the $50 in September 2013. This new $100 uses strong images and bold colours to reflect the vibrancy of the nation. The main theme of the design is rural lives, depicting particularly the harvesting of coconut as a major source of income in rural areas. Like the current $50 note, this note is also printed with Optiks technology (Hybrid) security, by De La Rue, the traditional printer for Solomon Islands banknotes since 1916. Optiks is a DLR super-wide windowed thread. This highly-secure embedded thread is currently the largest window and widest thread in circulation. When the note is viewed normally the image in the metallic thread is visible, and when the note is held up against the light the full thread can be seen. And also like the 2013 first issue, the first prefix for this new series is "A/1" with replacement notes printed with "X/1". Here I have posted the note with A/1 000088 (lucky double eights). Going forward, we will expect the remaining denominations to be issued later, however I am not sure if this new series will also include the $2 as well. In my opinion, it is unlikely that the remaining of the series will be printed with the Optiks technology (Hybrid) security. Let's hope that I am wrong.