BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOR weeks there has been talk about the releasing of a new EC$2 coin and the public has been on the lookout for it, eager as well to collect it. The anticipation is finally over as the coin is now ready for circulation.
The coin, which is being issued as part of activities to celebrate 10 years of Financial Information Month (FIM), will be circulated to all the commercial banks which operate in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) for further distribution to the public.
The banks will receive the coins and upon requisition, and they will be paid out as normal cash to the banks’ customers.
The coin features the engraving of Queen Elizabeth the Second on the obverse side (head). The reverse side displays the 2011 Financial Information Month logo, which depicts a tree growing from the palm of two hands with coins and the theme: “Grow Your Savings”.
The $2 circulation coin is legal tender, that is, it is a legal form of payment for financial transactions in the ECCU states.
Approximately two million coins were minted for circulation throughout the entire ECCU. There will be no further minting of the $EC$2 coin.
Sybil Welsh, Adviser, Corporate Relations Department at ECCB said that the coin is a onetime issue, and it follows the pattern of the EC$1 coin that was issued a few years ago in commemoration of ECCB’s 25th anniversary.
