Bank of Ghana upgrades one Ghana cedi coin

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has upgraded the GH¢1 coin with enhanced security features.

The upgraded GH¢1 coin will be issued into circulation from Monday, December 12, 2022, a statement from the Bank of Ghana, dated December 6, 2022, has said.

The coin is similar to the existing GH¢1 coin in shape, form and images; the Coat of Arms in front and the Scale of Justice at the back, the BoG stated.

The upgraded GH¢1 coin is bi-metallic with outer gold and inner silver.

The coin has a pronounced rough edge and incorporates a latent image, which appears in a rectangular form below the Scale of Justice at the back.

The latent image changes from a radiating star to a One Ghana cedi symbol sandwiched between two stars when tilted.

The existing and the upgraded GH¢1 coins will co-circulate until the existing coin is gradually withdrawn, the central bank said.

“The Bank encourages the public to accept the coins and use them,” it added.

The Bank of Ghana last year said it was working to phase out the one Ghana cedi and the two Ghana cedi notes from circulation.

The Governor of BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, said that the notes will ultimately be replaced by their coin versions, which were currently co-circulating.

He said the decision was needed to improve the bank’s cost of currency management.

The central bank, he said had realised that it was not cost-effective to keep the two sets of notes in circulation, as they mostly returned dirty and worn out, requiring frequent replacements.

They mostly return torn, soiled and dirty. We’ve bails and bails of those two and so the view is to get them out and use the coins,” he said.

The BOG, which is the bank to the government, regulates the printing and circulation of currency in the country.