2016-11-15 Tue

40 years of Seychelles’ Independence will be celebrated with the release of new banknotes and coins in December.

The theme will be “Seychelles’ Unique Biodiversity — the backbone of our economy”. It has been four years since the work of issuing these new notes and coins was initiated. Different sized 500-rupee, 100-rupee, 50-rupee and 25-rupee notes, as well as seven new coins in 1- to 10-rupee denominations will be released. The 10-rupee ringed-bimetallic coin will replace the current 10 rupee note.

35 examples of the Seychelles’ flora and fauna like birds, fish and reptiles, and the carnivorous pitcher plant will be depicted on the new currency.

Some general colour schemes and some design features will remain the same so that transition and acceptance of the new currencies remain hassle free.

The new banknotes offer better security features to tackle counterfeiting. Tactile raised print of small coco-de-mer nuts on all the notes — two coco-de-mer on the 25-rupee note, three on the 50-rupee note, four on the 100-rupee note, and five on the 500-rupee note, will help the visually impaired to identify denominations easily.

Creole, English, and French texts are included to celebrate the country’s trilingual heritage. Five million notes of each denomination will be released based on demand. The old currency will remain legal tender until they are officially demonetized.