Bank of Jamaica is aware that the $5000 commemorative banknote, issued on 23 July 2012 in celebration of Jamaica’s 50 years of political independence, is currently in circulation. The Bank has also been advised that persons are experiencing difficulty conducting transactions with this banknote. In this regard, the Bank apologizes for any inconvenience caused.
Although the commemorative $5000 note is similar to the standard $5000, there are some differences in appearance. Nevertheless, the Bank wishes to advise that both versions are genuine and acceptable for all transactions as legal tender. The Bank will, however, facilitate the exchange of the commemorative note for the standard note, if members of the public wish to do so.
The front of both versions of the $5000 features the image of the late former Prime Minister of Jamaica, The Most Honourable Hugh Lawson Shearer. However, in addition to this, the front of the commemorative $5000 note also features the Jamaica 50 logo.
The back of the standard $5000 and the commemorative version are similar except for the vignette, which is an aerial view of Highway 2000, for the former. For the commemorative $5000, the back of the banknote bears the photograph of a group of children from the Central Branch Primary School (c.1962) representing the National Motto “Out of Many, One People”. This photograph previously appeared on the reverse (back) of the $2.00 banknote which was in circulation between 1969 and 1994.
In terms of the security features, these remain the same for both the standard $5000 note and the commemorative $5000 note. Despite the abovementioned differences between the standard version of the $5000 note and the commemorative version, both are genuine notes for use in the settlement of transactions, as long as the security features are consistent with those reflected on Bank of Jamaica’s website at Banknotes » Bank of Jamaica (boj.org.jm).
Below are specimens of the commemorative $5000 note and the standard $5000 note.
