ECB to choose new designs for the euro banknotes by 2024

Started by eurocoin, December 06, 2021, 01:52:04 PM

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eurocoin

The ECB is planning to choose new designs for the euro banknotes by 2024.

Following the proposals from an advisory group, the ECB will call on the public for their input on the shortlisted themes. A design competition for the new banknotes will follow, after which the ECB will again consult the public. The ECB's Governing Council will take the final decision. After completing the design process, the Governing Council will authorise the production of new banknotes and decide on potential issuance dates.

chrisild

The current designs – bridges and arches that represent architectural styles with featuring single specific buildings – are fine with me. Flowers could work too, and so would abstract patterns. Or maybe a bridge on one side, and such a pattern on the other side? :) Anyway, we now know most members of the interdisciplinary advisory council ...

eurocoin

The non-existing buildings of course didn't refer to any country whereas plants have a connection with the specific countries in which they are present. Very odd, of course, that a British woman was chosen to represent the Netherlands. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. All other countries selected a national to represent them.

chrisild

No idea what passport(s) Alice Twemlow has, but she seems to live and work in the Netherlands: Lector at the KABK (Royal Academy of Art), professor in Amsterdam, and at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (Leiden) ... Makes some sense to me. :)

Besides, this is "only" an advisory council. You want to have people from all euro area member states, but also a fairly wide range of experts – artists, people with some "tech" background, and so on. Let's see what they come up with. And if plants were already considered "country specific" (in my opinion they are not, although a plant may well not be present in all euro countries), people are definitely out again ...

Christian

eurocoin

Former Austrian artist Robert Kalina, who designed the first euro banknote series, has now commented on the news of the introduction of a fully redesigned series:

Euro banknote artist fears redesign could revive rivalries

Twenty years after arriving in Europeans' wallets, euro banknotes will get a new look with help from the public, a process officials hope will make citizens feel closer to the single currency. But the Austrian artist behind the original banknotes fears the redesign could spark national rivalries, something he painstakingly tried to avoid with neutral illustrations the first time around.

Now retired, Robert Kalina was working as a graphic designer for the Austrian National Bank when he won a competition in 1996 to create the artwork for the first-ever euro notes. "It's incredible to think that the euro is already 20 years old, I hope it stays around for a long time to come," he told AFP. Kalina's designs were initially printed on 14.5 billion banknotes in denominations ranging from five to 500 euros. The bills in circulation have since almost doubled in volume and found their way into the hands of some 350 million Europeans and many more people around the world.

A challenge

Euro coins, which are minted by euro members, have a shared image on one side and a country-specific one the other. Ireland for instance opted for a harp, France for a tree. But euro banknotes are issued by the European Central Bank, and their designs had to be identical across the euro region and avoid "national bias". The challenge for Kalina was coming up with illustrations all Europeans could identify with, without stirring nationalist sentiments or appearing to favour one eurozone nation over another. "Portraits might have been allowed, but only if the faces were anonymous. I excluded that option right away," Kalina said.

He decided to focus on architecture. Drawing on inspiration from existing buildings, Kalina simplified and reworked their depictions with the help of engineering experts, to ensure the structures "were no longer recognisable" but still believable. His bridge designs, showcasing different historical styles in Europe, symbolise the connection between eurozone citizens, "but also between the European Union and the rest of the world". The windows and doorways on the other side of the notes stand for "openness and a vision of the future". Despite the numerous crises that have rocked the currency since its birth, Kalina says the ideals he sought to portray are "still valid". But earlier this month, the ECB said the bills were ready for a makeover, announcing a design and consultation process with a decision expected in 2024.

Jealousy?

"After 20 years, it's time to review the look of our banknotes to make them more relatable to Europeans of all ages and backgrounds," said ECB president Christine Lagarde. Euro banknotes are "here to stay", she said, although the ECB is also considering creating a digital euro in step with other central banks around the globe.

The ECB will rely on a 19-person panel of experts for the banknote design — one from each euro nation — and consult the public along the way. "The question is whether people have come far enough to accept, for example, famous people being represented", even if they are linked to a particular country, Kalina said. "Might it perhaps cause jealousy?" he asked, recalling heated debates on the issue in the 1990s.

The world of music might be a good place to look for inspiration for the next generation of notes, Kalina mused, since "great composers like Beethoven or Mozart can't be reduced to a single country". Music "is a language that doesn't require words and one that everyone can understand," he said.

Source: Guardian Nigeria

chrisild

Seems that the days around Christmas and New Year's are a good opportunity for those who want to be in the news even without any substantial news. ;D The MEP Moritz Körner (Renew Europe/FDP) just suggested that Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci should be on one of the new euro notes (article in Die Welt, German).

Well, I sure hope that, by the time the new series comes, the two will not be dead yet, hehe. Putting some more emphasis on science may not be a bad idea, and I don't even think Körner had the idea because his FDP is sometimes called the party of the millionaires. 8) But this is a wonderful example of why we should not have people on our paper money.

Tirant

Honestly, i have no expectations on the new banknotes design. I know they will disappoint me. They'll try to bring something that would please everyone, and they'll finally come with something that won't please anyone.

I think that they should leave each country to have their own designs, the European union is something too big to limit it to eight banknotes. I don't see nothing wrong with putting people on them; not so long ago, painters, writers, musicians, artists of all kind, sciencists, and even militaries and kings and queens from the past appeared and it was ok for everyone. But if they choose to not to put people, there are still buildings, sculptures, paintings, landscapes, and lots of things to represent each country.

Of course, it's just my opinion, and not everybody has to agree.

Figleaf

I think portraits would play into the hands of nationalists, but, as Tirant notes, there are other possibilities. Chrisild's post gave me the idea of concepts and values. Music, healing, democracy, solidarity, education rule of law, peace and many more concepts are deeply anchored and valued in European cultures. They are not as sterile as bridges and no country, political tendency or religion can claim a monopoly on them as long as you avoid bringing in personalities and too much detail.

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

chrisild

Quote from: Tirant on January 01, 2022, 04:48:04 PM
I think that they should leave each country to have their own designs, the European union is something too big to limit it to eight banknotes.

And precisely because the European Union is fairly big, you cannot have many different designs. We have 19 (probably 20 next year) euro area member states after all. 19 or 20 designs per denomination, with the six (previously seven) denominations we have? I mean, that cash is supposed to "work" (i.e. be spent and be accepted) anywhere in the currency union ...

Also, even back in the days when we had people on our paper money, things were certainly not all fine and dandy. ;) There were discussions about gender equality on the notes, about whether certain people should, or should still, be on our money, and so on. (Think of this discussion in the US.) Now people on euro notes would quite possibly aggravate the problem, but it was and is there anyway.

As Peter wrote, maybe we can come up with designs that somehow represent common values. Plus, I like bridges.  ;D

Tirant

Quote from: chrisild on January 01, 2022, 08:54:24 PM
And precisely because the European Union is fairly big, you cannot have many different designs. We have 19 (probably 20 next year) euro area member states after all. 19 or 20 designs per denomination, with the six (previously seven) denominations we have? I mean, that cash is supposed to "work" (i.e. be spent and be accepted) anywhere in the currency union ...

Also, even back in the days when we had people on our paper money, things were certainly not all fine and dandy. ;) There were discussions about gender equality on the notes, about whether certain people should, or should still, be on our money, and so on. (Think of this discussion in the US.) Now people on euro notes would quite possibly aggravate the problem, but it was and is there anyway.

As Peter wrote, maybe we can come up with designs that somehow represent common values. Plus, I like bridges.  ;D

I disagree. Just like each country has its own design for coins, they can do the same with banknotes. I think that a common reverse for all countries and a different obverse for each one can work, as it works with coins.

About peolple on them, well, today it's not the same than 20 years ago, that's true. In Spain, i can think only in one banknote depicting a woman (500 pesetas, depicting writer Rosalia de Castro) and i don't remember that there was any complain. Also, the last 1000 pesetas banknote had the images of conquerors Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, and it was fine for everyone. But i have to admit that today, when even schoolbooks teach our children that we should be ashamed and beg for forgiveness for what happened 500 years ago, it would be so controversial. But, once again, things are not the same than in the 90s.

Finally, i have nothing against bridges, or any of the current designs. But they tell me nothing; aside the Europe map, i don't see anything european on them. I see one and i think: "ah, ok, a banknote", and that's all.

andyg

[post moved - please keep Brexit comments where they belong]
always willing to trade modern UK coins for modern coins from elsewhere....

chrisild

Not sure how this is in Spain, but in Germany banknotes should also reflect some regional balance. That is, if all depicted people came from "the North" or "the East", that would be a No-No. In the euro area that would quite likely be an even bigger issue. And one that in my opinion – guess we will simply not agree on this ;) – cannot be addressed by having paper money with one country specific side. Back in the time of the "Greece Crisis", some people here even had the weird idea that notes with the "Y" code for the issuing NCB would lose their value, and thus tried avoiding them. Sure, silly. Well, that got addressed by doing away with the NCB codes. My hope is, quite simply, that the next generation of euro notes will have attractive designs.

By the way, the current Danish series also uses bridges on one side (and prehistoric finds on the other). No people there either, and yes, those are depictions of real objects. But for me, architectural elements that make me feel "home" also work. Or have a look at the Dutch pre-euro notes. No people, and yet they look good. In my opinion, that is. 8)

Figleaf

The preference for portraits date from different, more innocent times. In those days, a forger needed a skilfully handled pen to correct weaknesses from the copying process. Even a small mistake in a portrait would give the face a different expression. That in turn would make it easy to spot a fake.

Fast forward into the computer age and any faker can imitate a face perfectly. Therefore, there is no longer a need for them.

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

chrisild

Last month ECB President Christine Lagarde was interviewed by RND, a German press network. That interview can also be found, in an English version, at the ECB website. In the middle of this conversation about monetary policy and interest rates, she was also asked about the euro banknotes. Seems she does not like the idea of having bridges and arches on our paper money that represent European architecture throughout the ages. ;) The text below is from that interview.

What's wrong with architecture?

Nothing. But have you ever looked closely at the banknotes? The structures shown on them do not exist in reality. Twenty years after the euro was introduced, it is time we asked ourselves whether there is something Europeans can identify with even more. Something we all see as typically European, something that unites us.

What do you have in mind?

Personally, I can envisage portraying famous Europeans: Leonardo da Vinci, Ludwig van Beethoven, James Joyce. I have fond memories of the five franc banknote showing Victor Hugo, which was in circulation in France 50 years ago. But I'm sure there are other ways to show European identity, for example with a famous painting or an architectural monument.


eurocoin

#14
There is no chance that it is going to be anything other than portraits. She has mentioned portraits so many times that everyone knows what they have to do.

Anyway, I certainly would like to see The Netherlands represented on the notes and hope that at least 1 Dutch person will be portrayed. But with a British-born representing us, I am really not sure how strong the lobby for that will be. The European identity is a fiction.