8th May 2023

Curaçao and Sint Maarten Select Crane Currency for Their New Caribbean Guilder Banknotes

The view overlooking Simpsons Bay in Sint Maarten.

The Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) has announced contracts with Crane Currency and the Royal Canadian Mint for the production and supply of the new Caribbean guilder banknotes and coins. This is a major step towards the realization of a new currency for the countries of Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the aim is to introduce it in the second half of 2024.  

The two countries expressed agreement to move forward with the new currency of the monetary union in early 2022. The CBCS then carefully evaluated eight supplier bids. With contracts now signed with both companies, focus turns to the new currency’s designs. 

“By collaborating with these two highly reputable companies, the CBCS is confident it will achieve a modern and secure series of banknotes and coins of which the people of Curaçao and Sint Maarten will be proud,” says Richard Doornbosch, President of CBCS. 

The Queen Emma bridge in Willemstad, Curaçao.

Crane Currency supplies durable banknote paper, anti-counterfeiting technology and printed banknotes to more than 50 central banks around the world.  Crane is active throughout the Americas supplying the US Treasury Department with banknote paper on which the US dollar is printed and banknotes and banknote papers to the central banks of Aruba, The Bahamas, Chile, Guyana, and Mexico, to name a few.

The Royal Canadian Mint, supplier of Canadian coins is one of the largest mints in the world, and active in the region supplying the central banks of The Bahamas, Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana. 

Reacting to the announcement, Michael Saunders, Commercial Director for Crane Currency, commented that “all of us at Crane are thrilled to be working with the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten on their new series of banknotes. The Caribbean Guilder is an exciting new currency and promises to be an exceptional demonstration of Crane’s industry leading security technology well-suited to the rich and vibrant cultural theme of these nations.”