The Banco Central de São Tomé e Príncipe has celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching a new series of banknotes and coins.

The new currency is part of the Bank’s Monetary Reform 2018, resulting in the removal of three zeros from the denomination structure of the current series first circulated in 1997.

There will be six banknote denominations consisting of the 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and a new high value 200 dobras, and five coin denominations.

The new banknotes, designed and printed by De La Rue, will be circulated on 1 January 2018.

The two lower banknote denominations, usually subjected to increased soiling and wear, are printed on De La Rue’s Safeguard® polymer substrate with the aim of increasing the notes’ durability.

The remaining four high value banknotes include a variety of security features including De La Rue’s Depth™ Image hologram and StarChrome® colour shift security thread.

Image courtesy of De La Rue.