Singapore 2000 $2 millennium banknote

Technical Specification:

Year issue: 2000

Size: 126 mm x 63 mm

Mintage: 3,000,000

Watermark: Encik Yusof bin Ishak.

Paper Type:

Signature on banknote: Dr. Hu Tsu Tau

Description

The $2 note shows a group of pupils interacting with a teacher in a "Borderless Classroom". Three prominent institutions of learning are seen in the background. From the extreme right, the institutions are Victoria Bridge School, the old Raffles Institution at Bras Basah Road, and the College of Medicine. Besides being closely associated with the late Encik Yusof at various stages of his life, the three institutions also symbolically represent the ideal educational progression in Singapore, namely primary, secondary and tertiary.

Also on the front of the $2 note is the Money Cowrie (Cypraea moneta Linnaeus, 1758). As its name implies, it was commonly used as a form of currency among the communities in the Indian and Pacific Oceans during the past. Humans have carried shells of this particular species to practically all parts of the world because of their beauty and remarkable gemlike shape and handy size.

The back of the shell is usually yellow, with a fine filamentous red ring. This species is found in the shallow inter-tidal zone of rocky shores and has a wide distribution in the Indo-West Pacific region.