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New Series of Euro Banknotes as from 2013

Started by chrisild, July 23, 2008, 04:05:05 PM

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Bimat

ECB Said To Use Greek Myth For Security On New Euro Notes

By Jana Randow and Annette Weisbach - Sep 1, 2012 4:30 AM GMT+0530

The European Central Bank is using an image from Greek mythology to improve security on new euro banknotes, four people familiar with the design said, even as Greece's near bankruptcy fuels a debt crisis that's threatening the future of the common currency.

Europa, the Phoenician princess abducted by Zeus who gave the continent its name, will replace architectural images as the watermark on the new notes, which the ECB wants to start rolling out next year, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans aren't public yet.

The Frankfurt-based ECB invited public relations companies to pitch for the contract to help present the new notes and dispel concern over the use of the image at a time when investors are questioning whether Greece can remain in the euro area, two of the people said.

Using an image that symbolizes the foundations and history of Europe and transcends national boundaries may reinforce the message of political leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the euro is a currency of unity. At the same time, Greece triggered the sovereign debt crisis that's driven up borrowing costs for governments from Rome to Dublin, pushing at least five economies into recession and threatening to destroy the monetary union.

The ECB plans to make the designs public in November and issue the first new note, a 5 euro bill, in May, two of the people said.

Delayed Redesign

"As we have announced already some time ago, work on the second generation of euro banknotes is ongoing," ECB spokesman Niels Buenemann said yesterday. "Details will be communicated at a later stage."

Central banks typically redesign their banknotes on a regular basis to improve security and prevent counterfeiting. Putting a face rather than a structure on the watermark may make it harder for forgers to produce fakes. The ECB has repeatedly delayed the redesign of euro banknotes, which were first introduced in 2002.

In the first half of this year, the ECB removed 251,000 fake banknotes from circulation, down from 310,000 notes withdrawn in the previous six-month period.

Current euro notes show windows, gateways and bridges from different eras in European architecture, both as the main pictures on the bills and in the watermarks.

The new notes will retain these symbols and be very similar to those in circulation other than the changed watermark, the people said. The colors of the notes will be slightly different and Europa will also show as a hologram on the silver marking on the right-hand side of each bill, one of the people said.

The map of Europe on the notes will reflect the enlarged European Union, according to information on the ECB's website.

Phoenician Princess

In Greek mythology, Europa, the beautiful daughter of Phoenician king Agenor and his queen Telephassa, was abducted by Zeus. Taking the form of a white bull, the king of the Greek gods seduced Europa and stole her away to the island of Crete.

Europa, whose moniker could be translated as "wide- gazing" or "far-seeing," is already depicted on Greek two- euro coins and several commemorative pieces.

The ECB said in 2008 that it wanted to put the first notes of a second series into circulation on Jan. 1, 2011, and roll out the complete set over a period of several years.

[..]

Source: Bloomberg
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

chrisild

Quote from: Bimat on September 02, 2012, 07:53:09 AM
The European Central Bank is using an image from Greek mythology to improve security on new euro banknotes, four people familiar with the design said
Interesting. But could a source like Bloomberg publish such news without explaining right in the first sentence that the euro is about to collapse anyway?

Quote, even as Greece's near bankruptcy fuels a debt crisis that's threatening the future of the common currency.
Whew, there we go. >:D

Quote
The map of Europe on the notes will reflect the enlarged European Union, according to information on the ECB's website.
Odd. Why would a map that simply shows geographic Europe reflect any enlargement?

Christian

Enlil

Quote from: chrisild on September 02, 2012, 06:50:36 PM
Interesting. But could a source like Bloomberg publish such news without explaining right in the first sentence that the euro is about to collapse anyway?

Christian

Are you sure about that. Best idea is to kick Greece out of the Euro, but no the EU, untill they can run their country. And to devalue the Euro.

chrisild

This week the ECB will apparently make the decision regarding the new notes, according to this article (HR, German) for example. Seems there will be a press conference after the Governing Council meeting on Thursday ...

Christian

chrisild

And here they are. :)  The first "new look" denomination to be issued will, as mentioned before, the €5 note. Some details (further information will be provided in January) are here:

http://www.new-euro-banknotes.eu/Euro-banknotes/Euro-banknotes-7-1/THE-NEW-5/THE-NEW-5-BANKNOTE

As you can tell, the new look is not all that new. :) The other denominations will, one after the other, follow later.

Christian

chrisild

Two images from the above page are attached here. First, you see that Europa's head will be "built into" the metallic stripe (it will also appear as a watermark). And the copyright notice will have the ECB abbreviation in more languages ...

From the "New Notes" site: The portrait of Europa has an obvious link to the continent of Europe and also adds a human touch to the banknotes. It was taken from an image of Europa on an ancient vase in the Louvre: http://www.new-euro-banknotes.eu/Europa-Series/The-Myth-of-Europa  The banknotes were originally designed by Robert Kalina, and their basic look will not change. Reinhold Gerstetter "refreshed" that look, so to say.

Christian

chrisild

It's me again ... That previous link also has a video which explains where that portrait of Europa was taken from. Admittedly she looks better on that vase than as a watermark or hologram. ;)

Christian

chrisild

The new euro notes will be presented next week, on Thu 10 Jan, in Frankfurt. The location is the Archeological Museum which, after the presentation, will show an exhibition about "The New Face of the Euro" for two months: http://www.archaeologisches-museum.frankfurt.de/english/temporary/euro.html (page in English). Why that place? Because both the museum and its location are neat :) and because the exhibition will also feature the vase from the Louvre museum, plus several coins from the museum's collection.

Christian

Figleaf

One more reason to go back to Frankfurt one day... Happy memories.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

chrisild

The suspense is no longer killing me. ;)  Attached is an image of the updated €5 note. Somewhat larger images are here:

(obv) http://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/shared/img/5euro_front_HR_europa.jpg
(rev) http://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/shared/img/5euro_back_HR_europa.jpg

Christian

chrisild

Seems that the serial number will still have 12 characters, except that the old "1 letter, 11 digits" is about to be replaced by "2 letters, 10 digits". Also, the printer code looks like what we have on the present notes.

Christian

milkshakespeare

I must admit that I was a bit afraid that they'd just add a couple of hologrammes to the current series, but this looks nice! Especially the back side has improved a lot in my opinion. Can't wait to get my hands on them!

chrisild

They will be issued as from 2 May, but I doubt we can go to a central or commercial bank and ask for "new fivers" on that day. :)

Here is a video that shows the unveiling/opening ceremony at the Archeological Museum - basically the speeches of Egon Wamers (museum director) and Mario Draghi (ECB president): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqyYi_4ElsI  At 15:15 (direct link) you can see President Draghi sign the note.

That "New Face of the Euro" exhibition can be visited until 10 March. Admission to the museum is usually €6; on Sat 23 Feb it's free. The exhibition is not only about the current and future money but also features the pre-euro money from the euro area member states. You can "detect" counterfeits but also see the ancient vase mentioned here before - and various other ancient exhibits; the transition to the regular exhibition is kind of smooth. :)

The attached photos show the exhibition hall (photo: ECB; taking pictures in there is usually not allowed), and two euro gimmicks that I now have ...

Christian

chrisild

Got a call from the Deutsche Bundesbank's cash management dept. today; I had sent them an e-mail with some questions a few days ago. Nice guy, answered all my questions :) and had a surprise for me ...

You will have noticed that, on the current notes, the complete serial number appears twice. On the "Europa" series you have one complete number and a shortened one. That "half" serial number was a compromise, it seems: Having the complete number on the notes a second time would have looked bad due to the redesign. But for security reasons it was considered necessary or helpful to use at least parts of it two times. Also, central banks will reimburse damaged notes if the customer presents more than 50% of a note.

The surprising part was that the serial number of the new series will not refer to the "issuing" central bank any more. In the current series the "X", for example, indicated that the issue was commissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbank. From now on, the two letters will be just that, characters that are parts of the serial number. He did not tell me whether any "secret" system would now be built into the numbers 8) but the point is, with the new notes there is no easy way to tell that this note is "from" that country/central bank. The short code, however, will still indicate where a note was printed.

Christian

chrisild

#29
Quote from: Figleaf on January 06, 2013, 01:40:08 AM
One more reason to go back to Frankfurt

Go to Madrid these days. 8) This is a traveling exhibition; two weeks ago it ended in Frankfurt. Currently it can be seen in Madrid, until mid-May. More info here, in Spanish or English. The next stops will be Bratislava (this summer) and Riga (this fall) ...

Christian