Code letters on the Euro banknotes

[BC Numismatics]

How many of you are aware that you can tell which country a Euro banknote comes from? Well,you can find the code letters prefixing the serial numbers on the backs of the Euro banknotes.

In my case,I have got a 5 Euros & a 10 Euros dated 2002 from Ireland.The Irish Euro banknotes have the letter 'T' at the start of the serial numbers.The signatory of my notes was the late Wim Duizenberg.If I was rewriting the Pick catalogue,I would place the listing of the Euro notes in with the banknote listings of the member states of the Eurozone.There's no such thing as a 'European Union' in numismatics,in my view.

Here's an article; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Duisenberg .

Aidan.

[a3v1]

Aidan, The serial letter T means that the note was printed in Ireland.
Euro banknotes are "pooled" by the European Central Bank.
So, notes printed in Ireland may as well be put into circulation elsewhere in Europe.
And notes printed elsewhere may as well be put into circulation in Ireland.
I know for a fact that many French 5 ? notes (serial letter U) and many Italian 20 ? notes (serial letter S) have been put into circulation in Ireland.

The date 2002 is on every Euro banknote, even on the most recent ones. It merely is the date that the legislation making these notes legal tender came into force.
Regards,
a3v1

[Figleaf]

Thanks, a3v1. I'd already observed a better mix of "nationalities" of banknotes than of coins, expecting the contrary because notes have a much shorter life span and now you've solved that.

Peter

[a3v1]

If I was rewriting the Pick catalogue,I would place the listing of the Euro notes in with the banknote listings of the member states of the Eurozone.There's no such thing as a 'European Union' in numismatics,in my view.

Aidan,
If you would rewrite the Pick catalog in the way you are suggesting, you would be making a major error.
There are 14 printers involved in printing the Euro banknotes. Thirteen of them are located in 11 countries of the Euro area, and one printer even is located in a non-Euro area country.
The Euro banknotes they printed all are for multinational usage; they are legal tender in all 13 Euro countries, and several other countries too (Andorra, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Vatican City).
There is no such thing as an "Irish" Euro banknote. The best one can say is that some notes are printed in Ireland, but these notes may be put into circulation in any of the 13 Euro countries; they are circulating in all countries mentioned above, and are being provided by ATM's in any of the countries mentioned.
In case you are fostering hopes of finding a Cyprian or Maltese Euro banknote in the future, your hopes will be in vain. These two countries will be provided all the Euro banknotes they need by the European Central Bank; and all banknotes will be coming from the existing stocks, so they may be showing any of the eleven serial letters already existing.

So Pick is perfectly right by not attributing Euro banknotes to a specific country. In numismatics there in fact is such thing as a 'European Union'. You'd better get used to the idea.
Regards,
a3v1

[Figleaf]

Thanks, a3v1. I'd already observed a better mix of "nationalities" of banknotes than of coins, expecting the contrary because notes have a much shorter life span and now you've solved that.

You say all notes are dated 2002, does that include the post Duisenberg notes?

Peter

[a3v1]

You say all notes are dated 2002, does that include the post Duisenberg notes?

@ Peter,
It does! As illustrated. This particular note was printed in 2006.
Regards,
a3v1

[Figleaf]

Thanks a3v1. You learn something every day here.

Peter

[BC Numismatics]

If I was rewriting the Pick catalogue,I would place the listing of the Euro notes in with the banknote listings of the member states of the Eurozone.There's no such thing as a 'European Union' in numismatics,in my view.

Aidan,
If you would rewrite the Pick catalog in the way you are suggesting, you would be making a major error.
There are 14 printers involved in printing the Euro banknotes. Thirteen of them are located in 11 countries of the Euro area, and one printer even is located in a non-Euro area country.
The Euro banknotes they printed all are for multinational usage; they are legal tender in all 13 Euro countries, and several other countries too (Andorra, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Vatican City).
There is no such thing as an "Irish" Euro banknote. The best one can say is that some notes are printed in Ireland, but these notes may be put into circulation in any of the 13 Euro countries; they are circulating in all countries mentioned above, and are being provided by ATM's in any of the countries mentioned.
In case you are fostering hopes of finding a Cyprian or Maltese Euro banknote in the future, your hopes will be in vain. These two countries will be provided all the Euro banknotes they need by the European Central Bank; and all banknotes will be coming from the existing stocks, so they may be showing any of the eleven serial letters already existing.

So Pick is perfectly right by not attributing Euro banknotes to a specific country. In numismatics there in fact is such thing as a 'European Union'. You'd better get used to the idea.
Regards,
a3v1

A3v1,as seen as the country code letters are listed in the 'European Union' (really 'Eurozone') chapter of the Pick catalogue,then I believe that the printers' codes should also be listed as well.

Eventually,code letters will be assigned to both Cyprus & Malta for the Euro notes printed there.

Aidan.

[Figleaf]

The letters denote printers, not countries, so there's no need to add new letters for new countries.

Peter

[BC Numismatics]

Peter,the printers' codes are located in one of the stars on the front of the Euro banknotes.The country codes are the prefix letters of the serial numbers (on the back of the Euro notes).That's the difference.

Aidan.

[a3v1]

Eventually,code letters will be assigned to both Cyprus & Malta for the Euro notes printed there.

Keep on dreaming, Aidan!!
Since the earliest conception of the Euro, in 1997, I've been following all developments very closely. So I happen to know very well what I'm talking about.

The idea of adjudging a different serial letter to each country issuing Euro banknotes originates from 1997, when the members of the EU numbered 15 only.
By 2002, when the Euro banknotes were introduced, this idea already was abandoned. Mainly because a vast expansion of the number of EU members (now 27 !) was to be expected.
Also because it was more practical and economical to create a pool, from which each and every Euro country could order any number of Euro banknotes they needed.
Originally the serial letter R was foreseen for Luxembourg, but Euro banknotes with this serial letter never have been printed. Luxembourg, on second thoughts, was considered too small to have its own serial letter. Separate "R" print runs would be too short.
The first new member issuing the Euro, Slovenia, does not have its own serial letter.
Also, Cyprus and Malta will not be having their own serial letters. They'll be using Euro banknotes having any of the existing serial letters.

Apart from the above: Euro banknotes with their many security features are wanting extremely sophisticated printers. Both Malta an Cyprus don't have any of them and won't be having any in the foreseeable future.
So the banknotes they'll be using will be printed by some of the printers who already have qualified.
Regards,
a3v1

[JeanPar]

A?dan,
Maybe nice to know 
You can see - beside other security measures - to the country code if the note is a real one or a false one. The figures of the serial number you can add up and at the concerning number code (see list below) to add up. The result of this is always divisible by 9. The 50 euro note on the scan has number Z34108189488. The numbers added up = 54.  The result of the first addition (in my example 54) has to add up (5 + 4 = 9) then the result must be the number code (see list) of 2e column. A number of 10 or more split up and have to add up again. That is not application in my example.

Moreover, this is a Belgian bank note. The country character Z = Belgium. Printer characteristic T = Banque National de Belgique.

Finland (L) 22/5 Portugal (M) 23/4 Austria (N) 24/3 the Netherlands (P) 26/1 Luxembourg (R) 28/8 (here are no notes of) Italy (S) 29/7 Ireland (T) 30/6 France (U) 31/5 Spain (V) 32/4 Germany (X) 34/2 Greece (Y) 35/1 Belgium (Z) 36/9

Regards,

[JeanPar]

Here is the other side:

[BC Numismatics]

JeanPar,so am I right in saying that my 5 & 10 Euros with the 'T' prefix in the serial numbers comes from Ireland? I have ones with Wim Duisenberg's signature.Have you seen any Irish Euro notes with Jean-Claude Trichet's signature?

Aidan.

[a3v1]

Have you seen any Irish Euro notes with Jean-Claude Trichet's signature?

@ Aidan,
So far I've seen "Irish" Euro banknotes (Serial letter T, printer's code K) with Jean-Claude Trichet's signature of 5, 10, and 20 Euro. But, as I emphasized earlier: Although these notes have been printed by the Bank of Ireland this doesn't automatically imply that these notes should have been put into circulation in Ireland.
Some of the notes I've seen were spick-and-span uncirculated and came from my local ATM.
Regards,
a3v1