Old GH¢50 notes no longer legal tender

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says that the old  GH¢50 bank notes are no longer legal tender and so cannot be exchanged for goods and services rendered or in any transaction.

According to the bank, “the old GH¢50 bank notes ceased to be legal tender after September 30, 2012 and should, therefore, not be issued to members of the public”.

However, a senior official at the Currency Department of the BoG told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the old GH¢50 bank notes would continue to be exchanged at all banks and the banking hall of the BoG.

The BoG, therefore, directed all banks in Ghana to accept the old GH¢50 bank notes for exchange or deposit from the public after authentication.

Like most currency notes the world over, the Ghana cedi bank notes have been under pressure from counterfeiters, both internal and external, with the GH¢50 note being the most sophisticatedly counterfeited due to its high value.

To ensure that bank note security is not unduly compromised and to maintain its integrity, the central bank, in August 2012, introduced an upgraded GH¢50 note which came with some enhanced security features.

Prominent among the security features is a green cocoa pod spark which replaced the silver hologram patch on the right-hand corner of the currency.

When the upgraded bank note is tilted, the cocoa pod changes colour progressively from green to blue and back to green. A beam of light rolls on the cocoa pod.

The BoG official said the bank would continuously work to improve the security features of its bank notes to make them more resilient to potential counterfeiters and not to be overtaken by technological advancement.

A visit to some markets in Accra on Wednesday revealed that some traders accepted the old GH¢50 notes, while others rejected them.

At the Agbogbloshie Market, the traders said they accepted both the old and new GH¢50 notes.

They, however, indicated that the only way they would reject any Ghanaian note was when they realised it was fake.

Ms Selina Ntiamoah, a tomato seller, said, “I accept any of the notes, but as soon as I realise that any one of them is fake, I will quickly give it back to the one who gave it to me.”

At the Konkomba Yam Market, Mrs Nsoribe Baapine, a yam seller, said on four occasions when she was given the old GH¢50 notes she rejected them.

The situation was not different at the Makola Market, also in Accra.

Ms Yaa Afriyie said, “For me, I take a very good look at a note before accepting it because there have been many instances when some of my friends had been given fake GH¢C50 cedis.”

Ghana | Daily Graphic