Award Celebrates Brilliance in Banknotes

Newly circulating banknotes introduced worldwide in 2022 have been assembled and their designs judged by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS), who have named the Philippines’ 1,000-peso note the most impressive.

The IBNS Banknote of the Year Award recognises exceptional design work in the cash world, with requirements including a note be new in the year of judging, issued to the public and in general circulation, and display significant artistic merit or innovative security features. Winners are selected based on criteria such as their art and design, use of colour, contrast, balance, and cutting-edge security implementation.

First place was awarded to the Philippines Central Bank 1,000-peso banknote, the front of which bears a striking image of the endangered Philippine eagle alongside a holographic Sampaguita, the national flower. The rear shows Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park—a marine and bird sanctuary with UNESCO World Heritage status—with a map of the country and a South Sea pearl.

Second place went to the Ulster Bank’s £50 note, with a design inspired by Northern Ireland’s great industries—aerospace, ship building, linen mills and film—and women whose work has advanced them, and global scientific understanding. Dame Jocelyn Bell, one of the world’s foremost astrophysicists, appears on the front of the note alongside ‘Millies’, female loom workers whose inclusion represents unsung heroes of the nation’s renowned linen industry. Bell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967, and has since been the first woman to serve as President of the Institute of Physics, and a trailblazing advocate for women and other individuals marginalised within scientific fields.

Third place was given to the Bank of Scotland’s £100 note, with a design celebrating Dr Flora Murray, a celebrated medic who was awarded a CBE in recognition of her work during World War One. During her distinguished career, she founded the Women’s Hospital for Children in 1912 with her partner, Louisa Garrett-Anderson, providing healthcare for the children of factory and shop workers whose low pay often proved a barrier to accessing medical facilities. During the war, she founded the Women’s Hospital Corps and two military hospitals in France, staffed entirely by female suffragettes.

Fourth, fifth and sixth place honours went to Algeria’s 2,000-dinar note, the 50 dollar Barbados note, and Egypt’s ten pound note.

The Banknote of the Year Award celebrates the role of cash as a nation’s ambassador to the world, and a reminder of national pride for citizens, with this year’s winners showcasing spectacular natural spaces, and individuals who have made inspiring contributions that have shaped the countries and the world beyond. It also highlights the ongoing development of cash, employing the latest technologies to ensure legal tender remains on the cutting edge of security.