More Awards for the Caribbean Guilder

The Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten’s new 200 Caribbean guilder has won the International Bank Note Society’s (IBNS) Bank Note of the Year Award for 2025.

Designed and printed by Crane Currency, the note is part of not just a new series but a new currency, introduced last year to replace the Netherlands Antilles guilder. It is the highest of the five denominations, all of which draw inspiration from the ‘World Under the Sea’.

The face of each note features marine life native to the islands while the reverse has historical and cultural landmarks. The winning note features long snout seahorses and a shell in blue-to-green SPARK Flow Dimension on the face, along with a MOTION SURFACE® stripe. The back of the note showcases the iconic Queen Emma Bridge and incorporates a RAPID® HD Detect thread.

83 new banknotes from 36 countries were released in 2025 (70 of which were circulating and 13 commemorative); 17 of these were nominated by IBNS members. The first runner-up was Fiji's $5 note and the second runner-up was Zambia’s 100 Kwacha note which features an eagle and giraffes. Rounding out the top five vote getters were Falkland Islands' 5 Pound note (King Charles III), and Papua New Guinea's 50 Kina note (bird of paradise).