Anguilla’s first chief minister featured on new Eastern Caribbean $10 banknote

Anguilla’s first chief minister James Ronald Webster, known as the Father of the Nation, is featured on the new Eastern Caribbean $10 banknote.

Premier Cora Richardson Hodge, who also serves as finance minister, unveiled the updated design during an Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) ceremony on 9 July.

The note features Webster alongside William Henry Bramble, a prominent figure from the UK overseas territory of Montserrat.

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Speaking at the unveiling in Dominica, ECCB governor Timothy Antoine highlighted Webster’s role in shaping modern Anguilla.

He said he led the 1967 Anguilla Revolution and became the island’s first chief minister, with his pursuit of self-determination helping to affirm the island’s identity and democratic governance.

The new family of Eastern Caribbean notes honours national heroes and prominent figures from across the eight member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).

For the first time, the banknotes no longer feature the likeness of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The $100 note features Nobel laureate in economic sciences Sir William Arthur Lewis from St Lucia and former St Lucian prime minister Sir John George Melvin Compton.

The $50 banknote features former ECCB governor Sir K Dwight Venner of St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis national hero Sir Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw.

The $20 banknote features Antigua and Barbuda’s first prime minister Sir Vere Cornwall Bird Senior and Dominica’s first female prime minister Dame Eugenia Charles.

The $5 banknote features former St Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister Robert Milton Cato and Grenadian Olympic champion Sir Kirani James.

In a press release on 9 July, the ECCB said the new notes include enhanced security features, improved durability and updated designs celebrating the history, culture and achievements of the region.

The new currency will be introduced in all member countries – Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The ECCB approved replacing Queen Elizabeth II’s image on EC currency in 2023. Public consultations that followed found strong support for featuring national heroes and nation builders on the notes.

Along with presentation of the newly designed banknotes, the event also marked the change in chairmanship of the ECCB Monetary Council.

Watch the ceremony in full below: