KINGSTON, Jamaica– The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has apologized “for any inconvenienced caused” due to the difficulties being encountered in using the J$5,000 commemorative banknote that had been issued in July in celebration of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of political independence from Britain.
In a statement, the BOJ said that it is aware of persons experiencing difficulties conducting transactions with the banknote issued on July 23 this year.
“Although the commemorative $5000 note is similar to the standard $5000, there are some differences in appearance. Nevertheless, the Bank wishes to advise that both versions are genuine and acceptable for all transactions as legal tender.
“The front of both versions of the $5000 features the image of the late former Prime Minister of Jamaica, The Most Honourable Hugh Lawson Shearer. However, in addition to this, the front of the commemorative $5000 note also features the Jamaica 50 logo,” the BOJ added.
The back of the standard $5000 and the commemorative version are similar except for the vignette, which is an aerial view of Highway 2000, for the former.
“For the commemorative $5000, the back of the banknote bears the photograph of a group of children from the Central Branch Primary School (c.1962) representing the National Motto “Out of Many, One People.” This photograph previously appeared on the reverse (back) of the $2.00 banknote which was in circulation between 1969 and 1994.”
The BOJ said that in terms of the security features, these remain the same for both the standard $5000 note and the commemorative $5000 note.
“Despite the above mentioned differences between the standard version of the $5000 note and the commemorative version, both are genuine notes for use in settlement of transactions, as long as the security features are consistent with those reflected on Bank of Jamaica’s website at Banknotes,” the BOJ added.
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