Cabo Verde: Central bank issues new 200-escudo note made of cotton

The Bank of Cabo Verde (BCV) has said that it will put into circulation as from Friday a new 200-escudo (€1.8) banknote on a cotton substrate, standardising the banknote family in place for six years.

“Given the centenary of the birth of Cape Verdean doctor and writer Henrique Teixeira de Sousa (1919-2019) and the need to strengthen the 200-escudo denomination, the new polymer banknote has been reformulated,” the BCV said on Tuesday.

The central bank noted that, with a cotton substrate, the new banknote had a view of the volcano on the island of Fogo on the back, where the writer’s work in favour of minimal public health structures was remarkable.

“Its renewed appearance incorporates technological advances that provide greater safety and durability, with reduced costs and impact on the environment, and facilitate the recognition of integrity and handling by the public,” the bank said.

The new banknote measures 124 by 62 millimetres. The dominant colour is red, both on the front and back, as well as other bright colours in green, yellow and pink.

On the front of the banknote, the figure of Henrique Teixeira de Sousa, printed in intaglio, supported by a medallion made of reproductions of a piece of cloth and the map of the island of Fogo, stands out. The background, printed in ‘offset’, is composed of a lithographic micro text, not visible to the naked eye.

The watermark obtained from a portrait of Henrique Teixeira de Sousa is on the left side of the front of the banknote, in an area of approximately one-third of its surface, the BCV said.

The central bank also said that on the left side of the portrait, just below the map of the island of Fogo, are the signatures of the governor and the administrator.

And on the map of the island, a bunch of grapes from the region of Chã das Caldeiras, with the inscription BCV in micro text, printed in intaglio, the source said.

BCV said that the new Cape Verdean 200-escudo banknote will circulate at the same time as the current polymer banknote, which has been widely criticized and sometimes rejected in the country for its difficulty in handling.

According to the BCV, both banknotes must be accepted as means of payment.