Euro banknotes
The euro (EUR or €) is the single currency for 12 European Union member states. The euro was formally established as a unit of exchange on 1 January, 1999, and euro banknotes and coins (see euro coins) entered circulation on 1 January, 2002.
Denominations
There are seven different denominations, each having a distinctive colour and size. The design for each of them has a common theme of European architecture in various artistic periods. The front (or recto) of the note features windows or gateways while the back (or verso) has bridges. Care has been taken so that the architectural examples do not represent any actual existing monument, so as not to induce jealousy and controversy in the choice of which monument should be depicted.
Common to all notes are the European flag, the initials of the European Central Bank in five versions (BCE, ECB, EZB, ΕΚΤ, EKP), a map of Europe on the back, the name "Euro" in both Latin and Greek script and the signature of the current president of the ECB. The 12 stars of the EU are also incorporated into every note.
The euro banknote designs were chosen out of 44 proposals in a design competition, launched by The Council of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) on 12 February 1996. The winning entry was selected on 3 December 1996, it was created by Robert Kalina from the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.
Description of banknotes
| Denomination | Dimensions | Dominant Colour | Architecture | Period | Printercode position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 euros | €5 | |||||
| 10 euros | €10 | |||||
| 20 euros | €20 | |||||
| 50 euros | €50 | |||||
| 100 euros | €100 | |||||
| 200 euros | €200 | |||||
| 500 euros | €500 |
The "paper" used for Euro banknotes is in fact 100% pure cotton fibre, which improves their durability as well as imparting a distinctive feel.
| File:5e rec.png | File:5e ver.png | |
| File:10e rec.png | File:10e ver.png | |
| File:20e rec.png | File:20e ver.png | |
| File:50e rec.png | File:50e ver.png | |
| File:100e rec.png | File:100e ver.png | |
| File:200e rec.png | File:200e ver.png | |
| File:500e rec.png | File:500e ver.png |
The following member overseas territories are shown: the Azores, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique, Réunion, and the Canary Islands. Cyprus and Malta are not shown, as they only joined the EU in 2004; also Malta is too small to be shown, with the minimum size for depiction being 400km².
Special features for the blind
The design of euro banknotes include several characteristics suggested in cooperation with organizations representing blind persons. These characteristics aid both persons who are visually impaired (people who can see the banknotes, but cannot necessarily read the printing on them) and those who are entirely blind.
Euro banknotes increase in size with increasing denominations, which helps both the visually impaired and the blind. The predominant colouring of the notes alternates between “warm” and “cool” hues in adjacent denominations (see the chart above), making it still harder to confuse two similar denominations for those who can see the colour. The printing of the denominations is intaglio printing, which allows the ink to be felt by sensitive fingers, allowing some persons to distinguish the printed denominations by touch alone. Lower denominations (5, 10, 20, 50) have smooth bands along one side of the note containing holograms; higher denominations have smooth, square patches with holograms. Finally, the 200-euro and 500-euro notes have distinctive tactile patterns along the bottom edges of the notes: the 200-euro note has vertical lines running from the bottom centre to the right-hand corner, and the 500-euro note has diagonal lines running down the right-hand edge.
It can be useful to fold a note between two fingers and then use the fingers as a length gauge to distinguish one note from another.
Security features
The ECB has described some of the more rudimentary security features of the Euro note, allowing the general public to authenticate their currency at a glance. However, in the interest of security, the exhaustive list of these features is a closely-guarded secret.
Still, between the official descriptions and independent discoveries made by observant users, it is thought that the Euro notes include at least thirty different security features. These include:
Holograms: the €5, €10 and €20 notes carry a holographic band to the right of the front side. This band is imprinted with the note's denomination; e.g., "€5 €5 €5...." in the case of the five-euro note.
In the case of the €50 notes and higher, the band is replaced with a holographic decal.
Variable colour ink appears on the lower right corner of back side of the €50 and higher. When observed from different angles, the colour varies between purple and green.
Checksum: each note has an unique serial number. The serial number is validated using a checksum. The following is an extract from the europa.union.euro FAQ that explains how to check the validity of a serial number:
- Replace the initial letter by its position in the alphabet (that is L is 12, M is 13,..., Z is 26).
- Add up this number and every digit of the serial number. For example:
- U08217383936 is 21 + 0 + 8 + 2 + 1 + 7 + 3 + 8 + 3 + 9 + 3 + 6 = 71
- Add up all the digits of this new number, redo as many times as necessary until you obtain a one-digit number.
The resulting number must be 8 - in the example above, 7 + 1 = 8, so it's correct.
Watermark: Each denomination is printed on uniquely-watermarked paper. This may be observed by holding the note up to the light.
Registration: The note denomination in the upper-left corner of the front of each note is printed incompletely, as is the denomination in the upper-right corner of the back. When held up to the light, this denomination is visible in its entirety. Genuine notes will exhibit perfect alignment (or 'registration') between the front and back. If the note has been printed incorrectly, i.e. by a counterfeiter, these numbers may appear poorly aligned.
Texture: some areas of the notes have a different texture from others. the BCE ECB EZB text is one of them.
Raised printing: some characters are raised to the touch.
Bar code: when held up to the light, metallic bars can be seen to the right of the watermark. The number and width of these bars indicates the value of the note. When scanned, these bars are converted to Manchester code.
| Note | Barcode | Manchester |
|---|---|---|
| €5 | 0110 10 | 100 |
| €10 | 0101 10 | 110 |
| €20 | 1010 1010 | 0000 |
| €50 | 0110 1010 | 1000 |
| €100 | 0101 1010 | 1100 |
| €200 | 0101 0110 | 1110 |
| €500 | 0101 0101 | 1111 |
(looked at from the reverse, a dark bar is 1, a bright bar 0)
EURion constellation: Euro banknotes contain a pattern known as the EURion constellation which can be used to detect their identity as banknotes to prevent copying. Some older photocopiers are programmed to reject images containing this pattern.
Digital watermark: Like the EURion constellation, a Digimarc digital watermark in embedded in the banknotes' designs. Recent versions of image editors, such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro refuse to process banknotes. Steven J. Murdoch's description.
Security Thread: A black thread in the middle of the note is seen only against a light source. It shows the denomination of the note, along with the word "Euro". This thread is magnetic.
Magnetic ink: Some areas feature magnetic ink. The rightmost church window on the €20 note is magnetic, as well as the large zero above it.
Infra-red and ultra-violet watermarks: when seen in the near infrared, the banknotes will show darker areas in different zones depending on the denomination. Ultraviolet light will make the EURion constellation show in sharper contrast, and also some fluorescent threads stand out.
Micro-print: the texture lines to the bottom, e.g. those aligned with the ΕΥΡΩ mark on the 10 EUR note, are actually made of the word "EURO" in very small print.
Matted surface: the euro sign and the denomination are printed on a vertical band which is only visible when lighted at an angle of 45°.
Serial Number
Unlike the euro coins, the euro notes do not have a national side indicating where they're from. This information is instead encoded within the note's serial number.
The first letter of the serial number uniquely identifies the country that issues the note. The remaining numbers (when added up and the digits of the resulting sum then added together again until a single digit remains) give a checksum also particular to that country. The W, K and J codes have been reserved for the EU member states currently not participating in the Euro.
Country letters
Country codes are alphabetised according to the countries' names in the official language of each country, but reversed:
| Code | Country | Checksum(1) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| in English | in official language | ||
| Z | Belgium | België/Belgique/Belgien | 9 |
| Y | Greece | Ελλάδα [Ellada] | 1 |
| X | Germany | Deutschland | 2 |
| (W) | (Denmark) | Danmark | (3) |
| V | Spain | España | 4 |
| U | France | France | 5 |
| T | Ireland | Ireland/Éire | 6 |
| S | Italy | Italia | 7 |
| (R) | (Luxembourg) | Luxembourg/Luxemburg/Lëtzebuerg | (8) |
| (Q) | Not Used | ||
| P | Netherlands | Nederland | 1 |
| (O) | Not Used | ||
| N | Austria | Österreich | 3 |
| M | Portugal | Portugal | 4 |
| L | Finland | Suomi/Finland | 5 |
| (K) | (Sweden) | Sverige | (6) |
| (J) | (United Kingdom) | United Kingdom | (7) |
(1) checksum of the 11 digits without the letter
- The positions of Denmark and Greece have been swapped in the list of letters starting the serial numbers, presumably because 'Y' is a letter of the Greek alphabet, while 'W' is not.
- Ireland's first official language is Irish; however, in the above chart it is clear the order was based on the English Ireland rather than the Irish which is Éire. Irish is not currently an official EU language but will become one in 2007. It is uncertain if this will affect the placement of its code in euro banknotes printed after that time.
- In the case of Finland, which has two official languages that are also official EU languages (Finnish and Swedish), the order was based on the Finnish Suomi instead of the Swedish Finland, presumably because Finnish is the majority language in the country.
- Belgium has three official languages, all of which are official EU languages. Luxembourg also has three official languages, with two being official EU languages. However, in these cases, the countries' positions in the list would be the same no matter which language was used.
The notes of Luxembourg currently use the prefix belonging to the country where they were printed.
Slovenia will not print euro notes for the time being, and will use previously issued banknotes from other eurozone member states. For all this, no country code has been reserved for Slovenia yet.
Also, as the number of members of the EU grows steadily larger, it seems likely that when the next series are issued (2008 expected) that the prefixes will change to 2-digit prefixes as at that stage, there should be 27 members (but only 26 letters in the Latin alphabet).
It has also been suggested that, should the prefixes change to two characters, the code should be the state's ISO 3166-1 2-letter code (e.g., EE for Estonia, DE for Germany).
Printing works
Somewhat hidden on the front of the note is a second, smaller sequence where the first letter identifies the actual printer of the note. The printer code need not coincide with the country code, i.e. notes issued by a particular country may have been printed in another country (e.g. some Finnish notes have in fact been produced by a UK printer). The A, C and S codes have been reserved for printers currently not printing Euro banknotes.
| Code | Printer | Location | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Bank of England Printing Works) | (Loughton) | (United Kingdom) | |
| Not Used | --- | --- | |
| (Tumba Bruk) | (Tumba) | (Sweden) | |
| Setec Oy | Vantaa | Finland | |
| F. C. Oberthur | Chantepie | France | |
| Österreichische Banknoten und Sicherheitsdruck | Vienna | Austria | |
| Johan Enschedé & Zn. | Haarlem | Netherlands | |
| De La Rue | Gateshead | United Kingdom | |
| Not Used | --- | --- | |
| Banca d'Italia | Rome | Italy | |
| Central Bank of Ireland | Dublin | Ireland | |
| Banque de France | Chamalières | France | |
| Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre | Madrid | Spain | |
| Bank of Greece | Athens | Greece | |
| Not Used | --- | --- | |
| Giesecke & Devrient | Munich & Leipzig | Germany | |
| Not Used | --- | --- | |
| Bundesdruckerei | Berlin | Germany | |
| (Danmarks Nationalbank) | (Copenhagen) | (Denmark) | |
| National Bank of Belgium | Brussels | Belgium | |
| Valora - Banco de Portugal | Carregado | Portugal |
As from 2002, the individual national central banks (NCBs) are responsible for the production of one or two specific banknote denominations and will thus select the printing works. This decentralised pooling scheme means that the NCBs have to exchange the denominations produced in different locations prior to issue.
Design changes and smaller Euro denominations
Italy, Greece and Austria have asked several times to introduce lower denominations of Euro notes. The ECB has stated that "printing a €1 note is more expensive (and less durable) than minting a €1 coin". On 18 November 2004 the ECB decided definitively that there was insufficient demand across the Eurozone for very low denomination banknotes. On 25 October 2005, however, more than half of the MEPs tabled a motion calling onto the European Commission and the European Central Bank to recognise the definite need for the introduction of €1 and €2 banknotes. [1] However it must be noted that the European Central Bank is not directly answerable to the Parliament or the Commission, and will therefore possibly ignore the motion. It is also possible the ECB may "recognise" the need, but take no action to fulfil this "need".
The design of the banknotes did not change after the expansion of the European Union to the east in 2004 (for example, the map does not show Cyprus). Additionally, after Bulgaria joins the EU, the banknotes will have to be updated with a Cyrillic rendering of the name "Euro" (Евро). Newer designs are expected to be issued in 2008. Like the pre-Euro currencies, the new series will start from the lower denominations.
As of 2006, some rendering will nevertheless not appear in the euro currency: the digram EU should be rendered as EI in Latvian and EV in Slovene, but there will be no such rendering. With the advent of the Cyrillic script for euros, it seems the policy is to stick to one rendering per script, ignoring any regional specificities about combining letter.
Banknotes have to bear the ECB president's signature. New notes printed after November 2003 show Jean Claude Trichet's signature, replacing that of the first president, Wim Duisenberg.
Design Trivia
- Although the design of the Euro banknotes was intended to depict bridges and arches/windows/gateways to represent the connectedness and openness of the European Union, respectively, the intended solidarity of the Member States was, ironically, not present in the design-process. Due to the ubiquity of countless historic bridges and arch-/gate-ways throughout the continent no consensus could be reached on which nation's iconic architecture should be depicted on which notes, and, therefore, all the structures represented on the banknotes are entirely fictional, merely designed to invoke the landmarks within the EU.[2]