Circulation Currency: Notes - Monetary Authority Of Singapore

About the Note Designs

The portrait of Singapore's first President, the late Encik Yusof Bin Ishak, was chosen to honour his invaluable contribution towards nation-building.

Portraits are used in the note designs to act as an effective security feature for the protection of currency notes against counterfeiting. Unlike animals or inanimate objects, the distinctive fine lines of the facial expressions on portraits are instantly recognisable and difficult to reproduce. Any slight change (such as a line, a dot or even a slight variation in colour) when producing a portrait, will alter the expression of the portrait.

The Portrait Series strikes a balance between simplicity and clarity in design on one hand, and sophistication in security features on the other. At the same time, the security features must be effective and easy for people to recognise and remember. To help meet these requirements, a standard design approach was adopted across all denominations of the Portrait Series.

Key Features

The front of all Portrait Series notes features:

• The Singapore Coat of Arms.
• A watermark of the portrait.
• The Singapore Lion symbol.
• The word Singapore in the four official languages.
• The signature and seal of the Chairman, Board of Commissioners of Currency Singapore (BCCS) or of the Chairman, MAS.

The back of each Portrait Series note denomination features a unique theme based on the first President's biography. The themes are Education, Garden City, Sports, Arts, Youth, Government and Economics.

Find out about the security features in the Portrait Series Paper Notes and Portrait Series Polymer Notes

Key Facts

• The Portrait Series notes were designed by Mr Eng Siak Loy, a local artist.
• The entire lyrics of the national anthem are printed in microtext on the back of the Portrait Series $1,000 note.
• Following the merger of BCCS with MAS, the first inaugural note issued by MAS was the $10 polymer Portrait Series note, overprinted with "Commemorative First Note Issue & MAS logo" and bearing a unique prefix "MAS".

Note: MAS has stopped issuing the following notes as a pre-emptive measure to reduce the potential money laundering and terrorism financing risks associated with large denomination notes:

• The $1,000 notes with effect from 1 January 2021.
• The $10,000 notes with effect from 1 October 2014.

Existing $10,000 and $1,000 notes in circulation remain legal tender in Singapore and can continue to be used as a means of payment for goods and services.