Euro banknotes

Euro banknotes

Country:	Belgium Belgium Germany Estonia Finland France Greece Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Austria Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Cyprus Germany Estonia Finland France Greece Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Austria Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Cyprus Republic Associated euro users: (with the right to issue their own euro coins) Andorra Monaco San Marino Vatican City Andorra Monaco San Marino Vatican city (without issuing its own euro coins) Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Saint-Barthélemy Saint-Martin Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Saintbarthelemy Saint Martin “Passive” euro users: Kosovo Montenegro Kosovo Montenegro
Subdivision:	100 cents
ISO 4217 code :	EUR
Abbreviation:	€ / EUR
Exchange rate : (August 24, 2020)	1 EUR = 1.0761 CHF 1 CHF = 0.9293 EUR 1 EUR = 0.90175 GBP 1 EUR = 125.26 JPY 1 EUR = 1.1847 USD

The euro banknotes together with the euro coins , the cash of Euro . The euro banknotes were put into circulation on the first day of validity, January 1, 2002, while the euro coins in " starter kits " were issued a few days earlier. The currency itself was introduced on January 1, 1999, initially only as book money . So far, there have been two series of euro banknotes. The first series has seven denominations , the second only six. This second series was circulated between 2013 and 2019.

On May 4, 2016, the Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to stop issuing 500 euro banknotes for the second series and to stop issuing 500 euro notes from the first series. The issuance of the 500-euro notes by the national central banks ended in Germany and Austria on April 26, 2019, in the other euro countries on January 26, 2019. The 500-euro notes still in circulation, however, remain, as do the other notes of the first series are still valid as a means of payment and can be exchanged indefinitely.

General

Design competition

On November 15, 1994, the Council of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) determined the denominations of the new banknotes : 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 ECU . It was only more than a year later in Madrid that the name “ Euro ” was set for the new currency by the European Council.

The design competition, in which the graphic artists and designer teams nominated by the national central banks took part, ran from February 12 to September 13, 1996. The National Bank of Denmark did not take part in the competition.

The specifications for the competition were drawn up in 1995/1996. Among other things, the two topics “Ages and styles in Europe” and “abstract / modern design” were defined. Furthermore, the currency designation and the abbreviations of the issuing body should be the only words on the banknotes. Other important framework conditions for the design were that the banknotes "should be clearly recognizable as European banknotes and contain a cultural and political statement that appeals to all Europeans". In addition, all drafts had to "take into account equality between men and women and avoid any kind of national bias". Specified were u. a. also the size of the individual banknotes and their basic colors, the epochs for the theme “Ages and Styles” and the twelve stars of the EU that had to be depicted on the front. The use of the stars on the back was optional.

On 26./27. In September 1996, a panel of experts selected the five best designs on both subjects. A survey of almost 2,000 EU citizens followed before the Council of the EMI selected the designs designed by Robert Kalina as the winners. The reason is: “Because they combine historical developments in the fields of technology, art and communication in a harmonious representation; they represent the beginning of a new Europe with a common cultural heritage and the vision of a common future in the new millennium ”. The gates and windows depicted on the front of the banknotes symbolize “the spirit of openness and cooperation”. The bridges depicted on the reverse symbolize the “bond between the peoples of Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world”.

The notes show fictional motifs from European architecture , each from different art historical epochs . It was deliberately avoided to depict real people or buildings in order to avoid that - even unintentionally - individual euro states feel preferred or disadvantaged.

The designs were first presented on December 13, 1996 at press conferences in Dublin and Frankfurt. On August 30, 2001, Wim Duisenberg , then President of the ECB, presented the final appearance of the euro banknotes in Frankfurt.

Discussions about face values

Even before the introduction of the euro, there were discussions about smaller face values. Italy in particular had campaigned for a one-euro note. In October 2003, the Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti made another attempt , supported by his Austrian counterpart Karl-Heinz Grasser . The idea was to reduce the amount of coins in circulation and lower inflation , as many people would overestimate the value of goods while paying with coins. The European Central Bank, which alone decides on the denomination of banknotes, decided in November 2004 after evaluating a study not to issue one-euro banknotes. The demand for a banknote worth two euros was not pursued after this decision. In May 2012, another attempt was made to have the introduction of the system checked by the central bank. The idea arose in the context of the discussion about the abolition of 1 and 2 cent coins.

Abolition of the 500 euro banknote

In April 2013, there were considerations about the abolition of the largest euro banknote, the 500 euro banknote. Bank of America analyst Athanasios Vamvakidis wrote that these banknotes often become "mattress money". A study by the ECB says that only around 30% of the 500 euro banknotes in circulation are used for payments and another study by the UK government suggests that 90% of the notes of this size traded in the country are in the hands of organized crime . Former ECB Vice President Vítor Constâncio confirmed in Brussels that the abolition is certainly worth discussing.

In February 2016, the debate about the abolition re-emerged. The Council of the ECB instructed the Banknote Committee to clarify technical details for a possible withdrawal of the 500. ECB boss Mario Draghi argued that the 500 euro note is increasingly being used for criminal activities such as money laundering. On May 4, 2016, the ECB Council, consisting of six members of the Executive Board and the central bank chiefs of the 19 euro countries, decided, against the votes of Germany, Austria and Estonia, to abolish this banknote. Many critics of this approach believe that this cannot limit crime and that other reasons such as the easier introduction of negative interest rates are behind this decision. It is feared that this is a step towards the abolition of cash. This is denied by the ECB and national central banks . The Governing Council has clearly spoken out in favor of receiving the 100 and 200 euro banknotes. Draghi said in February 2016 that the 200-euro notes could also be abolished.

Although 500 euro notes have not been printed since 2014, they were still issued by the Eurosystem 's national central banks until January 26, 2019 . In December 2018, both the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank announced that they would extend the deadline for issuing 500 euro notes to April 26, 2019, because these two central banks put most of the 500 euro notes into circulation. Even after the issuance by the central banks has ended, commercial banks and other cash service providers such as exchange offices and trading partners can continue to put existing 500 euro banknotes into circulation.

Bundesbank board member Johannes Beermann assured that the 500 euro banknote would remain valid "forever". The Oesterreichische Nationalbank, however, announced that the 500 euro banknote would lose its validity in payment transactions - together with the other banknotes of the first series - on a date to be set by the European Central Bank. They can be exchanged for an unlimited period at the central banks.

Cash in circulation

According to the European Central Bank, around 22.088 billion euro banknotes with a total value of 1,216.1 billion euros were in circulation in March 2019. The most common banknote is the 50 euro; In terms of value, too, they account for the largest share with 42.5% of the value in circulation. Almost half of the currency in circulation is covered by 100, 200 and 500 euro notes, although they only make up 16.3% of the amount in circulation. The euro coins do with 28.903 billion euros from just 2.4% of the total currency in circulation (of notes and coins) of 1,245.003 billion Euros.

Face value	Circulation quantity in million pieces	Proportion (amount)	Circulation value	Share (value)
005 euros	01,874	08.5%	009.4 billion euros	00.8%
010 Euro	02,486	11.3%	0€ 24.9 billion	02.0%
020 Euros	03,808	17.2%	0€ 76.2 billion	06.3%
050 Euros	10,325	46.7%	€ 516.3 billion	42.5%
100 euros	02,824	12.8%	€ 282.4 billion	23.2%
200 euros	00262	01.2%	0€ 52.4 billion	04.3%
500 euro	00509	02.3%	€ 254.5 billion	20.9%
All in all	22,088	100.0%	€ 1,216.1 billion	100.0%

First series (2002 to 2013)

Denomination

The euro banknotes of the first series (short name ES1 ) are available in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros.

Design and dimensions

The euro banknotes were designed by the Austrian Robert Kalina after an EU-wide competition in which 29 designers took part and 44 submitted .

The front (or recto ) represents one or more windows or gates , while on the back (or verso ) a bridge can be seen, symbolizing the connection between the individual countries within the European Union . No real buildings are depicted, but a compilation of stylistic features of individual epochs in an archetypal illustration (corresponding bridges were later built in the Dutch city of Spijkenisse ). On the back the European mainland, North Africa and part of the Asian region of Turkey are shown. In addition, with the Azores , Madeira , French Guiana , Guadeloupe , Martinique , Réunion , Canary Islands (no island images of: El Hierro and La Gomera ), islands and territories are also shown in which the euro is the official currency. Due to the chosen scale, Malta and Cyprus , currently the most eastern country of the EU, are missing . These two countries were not yet members of the EU when the euro was introduced.

Common to all notes are the European flag , the abbreviation for the European Central Bank in the various working languages of the EU in 2002, the year of the first edition (2002), the signature of the incumbent ECB President, a map of Europe (including the French overseas departments ) on the back , the name "Euro" on both sides in Latin ("EURO") and Greek letters (" ΕΥΡΩ ") from the Frutiger font .

The five abbreviations of the European Central Bank are: BCE (French, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish), ECB (Danish, English, Dutch, Swedish), EZB ( German), ΕΚΤ (Greek; letters epsilon , kappa and tau of the Greek alphabet ) and EKP (Finnish).

Since Wim Duisenberg surrendered his presidential post to Jean-Claude Trichet on November 1, 2003 , the signature changed on the notes printed below, but not the year 2002 . Banknotes with the signature of Mario Draghi first came into circulation in March 2012. Banknotes signed by Christine Lagarde first came into circulation in 2020.

Signatures of the ECB presidents on the euro banknotes
Wim Duisenberg
Jean-Claude Trichet
Mario Draghi

No 5 euro banknotes with the signature of Mario Draghi were issued in this series.

Face value	colour	Architectural style (s) period	Format * Weight *	Position of the plate code
5 euros	Gray	Classical ( ancient ) Before the 11th century	120 mm × 62 mm 0.68 g	left edge of the picture
10 Euro	red	Romanesque 11th-12th centuries century	127 mm × 67 mm 0.72 g	8 o'clock star
20 Euros	blue	Gothic 13th-14th century	133mm x 72mm 0.81g	9 o'clock star
50 Euros	orange	Renaissance 15th - 16th centuries century	140mm x 77mm 0.92g	right edge of the picture
100 euros	green	Baroque and Rococo 17th-18th centuries century	147 mm x 82 mm 1.02 g	to the right of the 9 o'clock star
200 euros	Yellowish brown	Iron and glass architecture 19th century	153 mm × 82 mm 1.07 g	to the right of the 8 o'clock star
500 euro	purple	Modern architecture 20. – 21. century	160mm x 82mm 1.12g	9 o'clock star

* All euro banknotes have a uniform thickness of around 0.10 mm, and their grammage ("surface weight", weight per unit area) is 85 g / m² when printed. The usual packs of 100 (new) banknotes measure around 12 mm around the loop. Ten such packages form a package (or bundle) and are stacked about 130 mm high. In production, the banknotes cost an average of eight cents each.

Security features

Cross-grade security features

Tactile picture elements in the enlargement

50 euro banknote photographed under UV light

50 euro banknote photographed in the infrared range

The euro banknotes have various security features with which counterfeiting is to be prevented or at least made more difficult. Furthermore, the so-called " EURion constellation " is intended to prevent duplication by copiers or scanners.

The substrate used consists of pure, starch-free cotton . The freedom from starch can be verified with special test pins. If starch is present, the paper will discolour where the pen has been treated. If a real banknote has come into contact with starch, this can also become discolored. However, very good counterfeit products cannot be identified with the pen, as they are often treated with chemicals that prevent a reaction with the starch. Occasionally, starch-free cotton paper is also used, although it is not easy to obtain.

Gravure printing with steel engraving ; This means that some printing elements can be felt : printed stripe on the lower edge (in the middle and bottom right) of the 200 euro banknotes (relief), printed stripe on the right edge of the 500 euro banknotes (relief), the respective large value number and the main motif ( Front)

See-through register : a value is printed partly from the front, partly from the back and is fully visible in the backlight; both sides complement each other exactly.

Watermark : the respective architectural motif and the value number

Metallized security thread that becomes visible in transmitted light and is labeled with the respective value number and the word "Euro" (perforated)

Microtext

Different colored fibers in the paper become visible under black light (UV light). In addition, the EU flag, the star circle, the signature of the respective ECB president and parts of the printed image on the front and back of the euro banknote light up. However, the paper itself does not fluoresce . Counterfeit money made in an amateur way, which is often made of normal paper, fluoresces bluish white over the entire surface. Real banknotes that have been washed in the washing machine, for example, also fluoresce over the entire surface, as the optical brighteners in the detergent are deposited on the banknote and they fluoresce blue under UV light. In the case of counterfeit products, the UV image is increasingly being imitated .

Under IR light : With the help of an infrared device, the right part of the intaglio printing and the film strips become visible.

Euro banknotes are provided with a magnetic security mark especially for machine identification. This safety marking can be detected using magnetic measuring heads or displayed using magneto-optical sensors.

See-through register (front)
See-through register (back)
Review register (review)

Watermark
Metallized security thread
Microtext
Serial number magnetic printing ink ( magneto-optical recording)

Note value-specific security features

Special foil strip (metallic gloss) with kinegrams , which changes between the € symbol and the respective nominal value when you tilt it (for 5, 10 and 20 euro banknotes: front on the right edge).

Security elements
Pearlescent stripes (silver)
Pearlescent stripes (gold)
Micro-perforation in the foil element
Foil element
50 EUR
Foil element
100 EUR
Value number "50"

Pearlescent stripes (Iriodin stripes), which are visible in gold when the euro banknote is tilted and then disappears again (with the € symbol and the respective nominal value) (for 5, 10 and 20 euro banknotes: back to left of center).
So far, no counterfeit is known that has this property. Either this feature is completely absent, or the gold shimmer does not disappear when tilted.
Special film element with hologram showing the architectural motif or the value number (for 50, 100, 200 and 500 euro banknotes: front right).
Color change: When the banknote is tilted, the color of the large denomination printed on the back (bottom right) changes from purple to brown (for 50, 100, 200 and 500 euro banknotes).
So far, no counterfeit euro banknotes are known in which the color change of the value number could be completely imitated. Either the color only shimmers when tilted or does not change completely to brown, but to dark red or dark purple (applies to a very good forgery of a 200 euro note from Bulgaria ). The difference to the real color change is very noticeable and easy to see.
If you hold the color element diagonally against the light, a green shimmer becomes visible when held horizontally, which confirms the complete color change. The same color change takes place on all banknotes from 50 euros, so that you can check the color change on all notes using a comparison banknote. It is not uncommon for the color change on counterfeit money not to be imitated at all, but the value number is only printed in purple.
Barcode : In transmitted light (hold banknote against the light source), the respective architectural watermark motif with the respective value number becomes visible on the left, on the right (in the printed area) the code consisting of six or eight vertical watermark strips, each 2.5 mm wide and 35 mm high. From the back - in the area of Eastern Europe on the printed map of Europe - this value-specific barcode can be read from left to right. In the scan , a dark stripe is read as the number 1, a lighter one as 0 and then interpreted as a Manchester code . The pair of stripes "01" is decoded to 1, "10" becomes 0. Only the banknotes of 20 and 500 euros have four identical clear numbers encoded, visible as an evenly striped pattern. The five other banknote denominations have exactly one dark bar that is 5 mm twice as wide in different positions because two dark stripes are adjacent to each other.

Face value	Barcode	Manchester decoding
5 euros	01 10 10	100
10 Euro	01 01 10	110
20 Euros	10 10 10 10	0000
50 Euros	01 10 10 10	1000
100 euros	01 01 10 10	1100
200 euros	01 01 01 10	1110
500 euro	01 01 01 01	1111

Other security features

There are also hidden security features on the euro banknotes, such as a feature called M-Feature ( M for machine-readable ), a coating with a mixture of oxides of different lanthanoids , which, read out with the help of strong flashes of light, delivers a characteristic response. These security features are checked automatically in the branches of the Eurosystem's national central banks. So far, this test has been able to reliably detect fakes. Each banknote is to be checked for these characteristics on average every three months in a central bank branch, so that the circulation of counterfeit money is discovered and suppressed. So far, however, all forgeries could also be detected using the known security features.

Forgery and manipulation

Counterfeiting of banknotes is prohibited. The copyright symbol © indicates the use of property rights in relation to reproduction. When using the copyright symbol, according to ISO 16016 , the information about the owner of the rights (ECB) and the year of the first publication (2002) are required.

The rate of counterfeiting of euro banknotes rose significantly up to 2009, so that improved security features for the second series (“Europe series”) were developed at an early stage and successfully introduced from 2013 onwards.

Numbering systems

serial number

The purpose of the serial number is to control the amount of banknotes produced and to clearly identify each banknote in circulation within a series and a denomination.

Each Eurosystem national central bank (NCB) has been assigned a unique identifier that appears as the first character of the serial number on all banknotes that the national central bank has commissioned to print. A letter from a particular NCB originally meant (in the basic configuration when the euro was introduced in 2002) that this NCB also put the note into circulation in its area of responsibility. In the case of later editions, it can also mean that the NCB has made the banknotes available to another central bank for issuance in its area of responsibility as part of the decentralized pooling procedure for banknote production. Banknotes with the letter of an NCB were not always printed by a national (state) printer, see printer identification .

The NCB letter is followed by a ten-digit number and a check digit (1–9). The check digit is primarily used for error detection when the serial number is automatically read, which is printed with OCR-B . The check digit is selected so that the following test condition is met: Replacing the letter of the serial number by its ASCII value (A = 65 ... Z = 90), we obtain a total of a number that is divisible by 9, the nine remaining is So 0. This can easily be checked by forming the repeated cross-sum of the sequence of digits, this always results in 9 for the nine-remainder 0 (otherwise the nine-remainder and repeated cross-sum are identical).

There are also other equivalent test methods: Instead of the ASCII value, the assignment A = 2… Z = 27 or A = 11… Z = 36 can be used. If the letter is replaced by its position in the alphabet (A = 1… Z = 26), the remainder of the nine for banknotes of the first series is basically 8 . If you form the nine remainder of the eleven digits of the serial number without the letter, the result is a value that can be found in the following table.

Even if primitive forgeries often use wrong check digits, a valid check digit is only a necessary but not a sufficient criterion for the authenticity of a banknote. To check the authenticity, you have to use different methods (see above).

NCB identifier

Code letter	country	Name in the local language	Nine remainder	annotation
Z	Belgium	België (nl), Belgique (fr), Belgium (de)	0
Y	Greece	Ελλάς	1	originally intended for Denmark
X	Germany	Germany	2
W.	Denmark	Danmark	3	not used, originally intended for Greece
V	Spain	España	4th
U	France	France	5
T	Ireland	Ireland (en), Éire (ga)	6th
S.	Italy	Italia	7th
R.	Luxembourg	Lëtzebuerg	8th
Q	not forgiven
P	Netherlands	Nederland	1
O	not forgiven
N	Austria	Austria	3
M.	Portugal	Portugal	4th
L.	Finland	Suomi (fi), Finland (sv)	5
K	Sweden	Sverige	6th	not used
J	United Kingdom	United Kingdom	7th	not used
I.	not forgiven
H	Slovenia	Slovenija	0	since 2007
G	Cyprus	Κύπρος (el), Kıbrıs (tr)	1	since 2008
F.	Malta	Malta	2	since 2008
E.	Slovakia	Slovensko	3	since 2009
D.	Estonia	Eesti	4th	since 2011
C.	Latvia	Latvija	5	since 2014, not used
B.	Lithuania	Lietuva	6th	since 2015, not used
A.	not forgiven

The letters for the original 15 EU countries were assigned in the first series from Z backwards in the alphabet, after the name of the country in the national language. Letters were also given for the EU countries Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden that did not introduce the euro in 2002. The letters Q, O and I were not used to avoid confusion with the numbers 0 and 1.

Systematics of the numerical part

When printing the euro banknotes, the consecutive serial number, starting with * 0000000001 * and in strict ascending order, was not attached in all countries. Since several banknotes are always printed at the same time (20 to 60 notes with one printing plate), parts of the serial number can be used for the position of the note on the uncut printed sheet if necessary. Depending on the ordering country and the technical possibilities of the banknote printer, these areas are located in different places in the serial number and limit the number space available:

code	country	Numbering system
D.	Estonia	NNNNNNNNNN
E.	Slovakia	NNNNNNNNNN
F.	Malta	NNNNNNNNNN
G	Cyprus	NNNNNNNNNN
H	Slovenia	PPNNNNNNNN, partly NNNNNNNNNN
L.	Finland	DDDPPNNNNN
M.	Portugal	DNNNNNNNNN
N	Austria	NNNNNNNNNN (€ 200); XYNNNNNNNN (other values)
P	Netherlands	NNNNNNNNNN; NNNNPPNNNN; XYNNNNNNNN (€ 500)
S.	Italy	NNNNNNNNNN
T	Ireland	DNNNNNNNNN
U	France	PPNNNNNNNN; NNPPNNNNNN (€ 20 from U85)
V	Spain	NNNNNNNNNN (€ 5-100); DNNNNNNNNN (€ 200–500)
X	Germany	NNNNNNNNNN
Y	Greece	NNNNNNNNNN
Z	Belgium	DPPNNNNNNN

Key to the letters:

D: number range for the value of the note, where e.g. B. for the serial number all 5-euro notes start with a 1, all 10-euro notes with a 2, etc., or 063 to 076 for 5 euros, 077 to 096 for 10 euros, etc. Countries that use such a system can only issue a maximum of 10 billion banknotes.

N: Consecutive number. This number is used for each value level individually from… 0001 in ascending order without gaps. For example, a note with the serial number 5678912345 * was printed later than a note of the same value with the number 1234567891 * .

P: Position of the note on the print sheet, the various possible positions being numbered consecutively.

X: position of the note on the x-axis of the printing plate.

Y: position of the bill on the y-axis of the printing plate.

↑ Finland partially broke through the clear labeling of the value. There are 5 euro notes with numbers that were previously intended for notes of other denominations.
↑ On French 10 and 20 euro notes, in order to open up additional number spaces, higher values are used for the sheet position coding in the first two digits of the serial number, which exceed the number of possible positions. There are serial numbers up to U64 for 10 euro bills and up to U84 for 20 euro bills.
↑ At 50 euros (40 sheet positions), PP values between 01 and 80 occur. 7 and 8 as the first digit were originally used for 100 and 200 euros, and unused serial numbers with these digits were later also used for 50 euros.

Of the more than 500 billion number combinations possible with these systems, 49.63 billion had already been used by the end of 2008. The system is exhausted much sooner due to the significantly different editions of the various publishers. Until the introduction of the new series, over 8.2 billion serial numbers of German 10-euro banknotes were used, the German 50-euro notes with serial numbers up to X96 are in circulation. So almost the entire number range was used up there.

Plate code

10 Euro ES1, produced by Bundesdruckerei (R)

20 Euro ES1, made by Giesecke & Devrient (P)

Somewhat hidden on the front is another short string of characters, the plate code, with the first letter identifying the printer that made the banknote. This printer identification does not necessarily indicate the NCB identification, since banknotes issued by one country may have been printed in another country. Germany, Great Britain and France each have two printers in the code list. The codes A, C and S have been reserved for printers that do not currently produce euro banknotes. The three following digits indicate the number of the printing plate or the series. The last two digits of this short sequence of characters indicate the relative position of the banknote on the print sheet, i.e. from A1 (top left) to J6 (bottom right), depending on the size of the print sheet.

Example:

R001H4
Printing: Bundesdruckerei Berlin
Plate number: 001
Position on the pressure plate: 8th from the top (H) and 4th from the left (4)

Printer ID

code	printing house	place	country	annotation
A.	Bank of England Printing Works	Loughton	United Kingdom	no notes in circulation
B.	not forgiven
C.	AB Tumba Bruk	Tumba	Sweden	no notes in circulation
D.	Setec Oy	Vantaa	Finland	The printing of banknotes was discontinued before 2003.
E.	Oberthur Technologies	Chantepie	France
F.	Austrian banknote and security printing company	Vienna	Austria
G	Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé	Haarlem	Netherlands
H	De La Rue plc.	Gateshead	United Kingdom
I.	not forgiven
J	Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato	Rome	Italy
K	Central Bank of Ireland	Dublin	Ireland
L.	Banque de France	Chamalières	France
M.	Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre	Madrid	Spain
N	Bank of Greece	Athens	Greece
O	not forgiven
P	Giesecke + Devrient GmbH	Munich / Leipzig	Germany
Q	not forgiven
R.	Federal Printing Office	Berlin	Germany
S.	Danish National Bank	Copenhagen	Denmark	no notes in circulation
T	Belgian National Bank	Brussels	Belgium
U	Valora SA ( Banco de Portugal )	Carregado	Portugal

The letters B, I, O, Q are not assigned. The letters were assigned in a similar way to the serial numbers, in reverse alphabetical order with reference to the country for which the printer would probably print banknotes. The Valora printing company in Portugal was added later and thus received the U.

Of the printing companies listed, the two German ones handled the largest share of the printing volume. Of the 14.8899 billion euro banknotes produced as of January 1, 2002, 4.7829 billion came from the German NCB, the Deutsche Bundesbank. Of the 51.613 billion euro coins in initial production, around a third, namely 17 billion, came from Germany.

Brittle banknotes

On November 2, 2006, it became publicly known that an estimated one thousand banknotes had been chemically treated so that they began to dissolve upon contact with moisture (e.g. sweat on the hand). This effect first appeared in June and July 2006 in the Berlin / Potsdam region. It cannot be ruled out that the cause was willful chemical treatment. The chemical is (most likely) sulfates , which are powdered on the notes. However, this could not be verified. It is certain that the bills are real and that they are not forgeries.

Criticism of paper quality

Organometallic compounds of tin (for example tributyltin hydride ) that damage the human hormone balance were used as preservatives , which doctors see critically. The ECB states that it has not used TBT in new notes since 2002.

Second series - "Europe series" (since 2013)

In 2003, the development of a second generation (short name ES2 ) of euro banknotes began. First of all, suitable security features were determined from around 200 proofs of authenticity on the market. Since 2008, the ECB has been publishing at longer intervals that a second series of euro banknotes is in the works. The originally mentioned issue dates of 2010 and afterwards 2011 could not be met due to necessary further developments against counterfeit banknotes .

On November 9, 2012, the European Central Bank announced in a message from President Draghi that from 2013 a new series of banknotes, the so-called "Europe series", would be introduced. The new five-euro banknotes were presented on January 10, 2013; they have been in circulation since May 2, 2013. The new 10 euro banknote followed on January 13, 2014; it entered payment transactions on September 23, 2014. The new 20 euro banknote was shown for the first time on February 24, 2015 and introduced on November 25, 2015. The new 50 euro banknote was presented on July 5, 2016 and introduced on April 4, 2017. The new 100 and 200 euro banknotes were both presented on September 17, 2018 and introduced on May 28, 2019. At the ECB Council meeting in May 2016, the introduction of the new 100 and 200 euro banknotes had already been announced for the end of 2018, at the same time as the (later postponed) discontinuation of the issue of 500 euro banknotes.

Denomination

The second series of euro banknotes, like the first series, was originally supposed to have the face values € 5, € 10, € 20, € 50, € 100, € 200 and € 500. However, since the abolition of the 500 euro banknote was decided on May 4, 2016, there are now only denominations of € 5 to € 200.

Design and dimensions

Reinhold Gerstetter , who had already designed the last Deutsche Mark banknote series, was commissioned to design the second series of euro banknotes . The nominal values, the main colors and the leitmotif "Ages and styles" were retained. The second series tried to compensate for a few weaknesses of the first. The notes have been made more colorful so that they appear friendlier, the steel engraving elements have more depth, the guilloches are now more prominent. In addition, new and improved security features have been introduced, including: a .:

a hologram strip and a watermark depicting the portrait of Europa (“The portrait shown comes from a vase from southern Italy that is over 2000 years old and can be viewed in the Louvre in Paris”) and
a green digit with a tilting effect (emerald number).

On the map of Europe, the French overseas department Mayotte , which received the status of the 101st French department on March 31, 2011, is not shown; the states Malta and Cyprus , which joined the EU in 2004 and the euro in 2008, are also shown have introduced.

The euro banknotes of the second series bear the year of the first issue.

Since Bulgaria's accession to the EU, the currency denomination EURO is now also listed in the Cyrillic spelling “ ЕВРО ” in addition to the previous name in Latin and Greek letters ( ΕΥΡΩ ) ; the Cyrillic " В " corresponds to the Latin V or W, the " Р " to the R.

The acronyms of the European Central Bank have also been expanded to include the spellings in the new EU languages: to the five previous abbreviations BCE (French, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish), ECB (Danish, English, Latvian, Lithuanian, Dutch, Swedish, Slovak, Slovenian, Czech), EZB (German), EKP (Estonian, Finnish) and ΕΚΤ (Greek) the five variants ЕЦБ (Bulgarian; in Cyrillic letters), EKB (Hungarian), BĊE (Maltese), EBC were added (Polish) and ESB (Croatian) added. On the euro banknotes they are in the sequence BCE, ECB, ЕЦБ , EZB , EKP, ΕΚΤ, (ESB), EKB, BĊE, EBC. The abbreviation ESB (Croatian) does not appear on the euro banknotes from 5 to 20 euros. The order is roughly based on the protocol order for official languages established by the EU; only the Bulgarian abbreviation is third instead of first.

The new banknotes continue to uphold the principle that the euro should in principle become the currency for all EU members and have therefore already anticipated a possible expansion of today's euro zone. As a result, all EU members are represented on the euro banknotes, not just the euro states. This is why there are now references to those countries that were previously not represented because they were not yet members of the EU at the time the euro was introduced.

Face value	colour	Architectural style (s) period	Format weight	public performance	First edition
5 euros	Gray	Classical ( ancient ) Before the 11th century	120 mm × 62 mm 0.71 g	January 10, 2013	May 2, 2013
10 Euro	red	Romanesque 11th-12th centuries century	127 mm × 67 mm	January 13, 2014	23rd September 2014
20 Euros	blue	Gothic 13th-14th century	133 mm × 72 mm	February 24, 2015	November 25, 2015
50 Euros	orange	Renaissance 15th - 16th centuries century	140 mm × 77 mm	5th july 2016	4th April 2017
100 euros	green	Baroque and Rococo 17th-18th centuries century	147 mm × 77 mm	17th September 2018	May 28, 2019
200 euros	Yellowish brown	Iron and glass architecture 19th century	153 mm × 77 mm	17th September 2018	May 28, 2019

The plate code can be found on all euro banknotes at the top right of the picture. A surface coating of the 5 and 10 euro notes should increase the durability of the new notes compared to the old ones; this leads to a slightly increased weight and slightly increased production costs. As it became known in October 2014, hardly any fingerprints can be detected on this newly introduced coating using previous methods . The width of the new 100 and 200 euro banknotes has been reduced to 77 mm and now corresponds to that of the 50 euro banknote. Bills with the signature of Christine Lagarde , who was elected ECB President in 2019, are to come into circulation in the second half of 2020.

Security features

Compared to the first Euro series, the existing security features have been improved and further developed, but the see-through register and the watermark barcode have been dispensed with.

The enhanced security features of the ES2 series include:

To recognize without aids:
- Special film strips (metallic gloss) with holograms (from top to bottom) (front):
  
  Satellite hologram (€ 100 and € 200)
  
  Portrait window (from 20 €): A see-through window becomes transparent when viewed against the light and the portrait of Europa appears on both sides of the euro banknote.
  
  Portrait hologram: Portrait of Europa in a silver stripe, as well as the respective building (gate / window) and the value number with the € symbol change when tilted.

Can only be recognized with aids:

Microtext:
- Front: in the gates / windows and in one or more stars of the European flag
- Back: in the aqueduct and bridges
Different colors under UV-A and UV-C
Fluorescence : colored fibers can be seen under UV light
Only parts of the overall picture are visible under IR light

Palpable relief
Special foil strips (metallic luster) with holograms
Europe on the 20 euro banknote from 2015
Improved foil with overprint
Emerald number
Portrait watermark
Metallized security thread
Microtext
Under UV-A light
Under infrared light
EURion constellation

Numbering systems

In contrast to the previous series, there is no longer any reference to the commissioning central bank on the banknotes of the Europa series, only the printer is marked.

serial number

The serial numbers of the Europa series start with two letters, followed by a sequence of ten digits. This (full) serial number is called the long form, while a short form of this number in the form of the last six digits of the long form has been added to the note rotated by 90 °. The first digit of the serial number specifies the banknote printer, while the second digit, like the following ten digits, is used to uniquely identify the banknote within the printing company's production volume for this denomination. If the two letters are replaced by their position in the alphabet (A = 1… Z = 26), the remainder of the nine with the ten digits is always 7. If the remainder of the nine is only formed from the ten digits of the serial number without the two letters , the result is a value that can be found in the following table. The remaining nine is also indicated in the table below (column: remaining nine) if necessary.

(Since there are exactly 2 letters, the system of the serial numbers described here is identical to that of the first series: If you replace each letter with its ASCII code (A = 65 ... Z = 90) or choose the equivalent assignment A = 2 ... Z = 27, then the remainder of the nine of the entire serial number is 0.)

Plate code

As with the first series of euro banknotes, the plate code is on the front. Its structure has not changed either, only the newly assigned printer IDs are used.

Printer ID

Each euro banknote printer has been assigned an individual identification letter that is present in the serial number and in the plate code: The specific assignment basically follows the NZB IDs of the first series (see above), with unused letters being reassigned with the greatest possible integration of printer IDs the first series.

code	printing house	place	country	Nine remainder	annotation
A.	not forgiven
B.	not forgiven
C.	not forgiven
D.	Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych	Warsaw	Poland		no notes in circulation
E.	Oberthur Fiduciaire	Chantepie	France	EA: 1 EB: 0 EC: 8
F.	Oberthur Bulgaria (former Bulgarian National Printing House )	Sofia	Bulgaria	FA: 0	First banknotes (€ 10) issued in May 2019
G	not forgiven
H	De la Rue Currency	Loughton	United Kingdom		no notes in circulation
I.	not forgiven
J	De la Rue Currency	Gateshead	United Kingdom		no notes in circulation
K	not forgiven
L.	not forgiven
M.	Valora SA	Carregado	Portugal	MA: 2 MC: 0 MD: 8	only 05 € only 20 € only 50 €
N	Austrian banknote and security printing company	Vienna	Austria	NA: 1 NB: 0 NZ: 3
O	not forgiven
P	Joh. Enschede Security Printing BV	Haarlem	Netherlands	PA: 8 PB: 7 PC: 6	In December 2016, the company announced that it would end banknote printing in the near future.
Q	not forgiven
R.	Bundesdruckerei GmbH	Berlin	Germany	RA: 6 RB: 5 RC: 4 RD: 3
S.	Banca d'Italia	Rome	Italy	SA: 5 SB: 4 SC: 3 SD: 2 SE: 1 SF: 0
T	Central Bank of Ireland	Dublin	Ireland	TA: 4 TC: 2 TD: 1
U	Banque de France	Chamalières	France	WP: 3 UB: 2 UC: 1 UD: 0 UE: 8 UF: 7
V	Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre	Madrid	Spain	VA: 2 VB: 1 VH: 4	Taken over by IMBISA in November 2014
W.	Giesecke + Devrient GmbH	Leipzig	Germany	WA: 1 WB: 0
X	Giesecke + Devrient GmbH	Munich	Germany	XA: 0 XZ: 2	In 2015, the production of euro banknotes at the Munich location was discontinued for cost reasons.
Y	Bank of Greece	Athens	Greece	YA: 8
Z	Belgian National Bank	Brussels	Belgium	ZA: 7 ZB: 6 ZC: 5 ZD: 4

Difficulty introducing

Although the Deutsche Bundesbank, according to its own statements, had offered the manufacturers of vending machines early on to test the new 5-euro bills, after the bills were issued there were major problems with the acceptance of the bills by vending machines. Deutsche Bahn, for example, had to admit that about half of the machines would not accept the new tickets due to a lack of software updates. Many cigarette machine operators provided their devices with an additional label, which “put off” the later acceptance of the new ticket, but parking garage operators and almost all other machine operators that accept banknotes were also affected by the problem. Even a month after the introduction of the new notes, the situation had improved only slightly. This is one reason why the time between presentation and introduction has been significantly increased for the 10 euro note. The machine operators should have more time to convert.

Framework for the re-issue of euro banknotes

If a cash handler, i.e. a credit institute or value service provider, wants to return cash to circulation after a deposit has been made (recycling) without the involvement of the responsible national central bank (in Germany the Deutsche Bundesbank and in Austria the Oesterreichische Nationalbank ), he is obliged to do so beforehand Check the fitness for circulation and the authenticity of the notes and coins.

Trivia

In Unicode 6.0, the symbol ( emoji ) “?”, which represents a bank note with the euro symbol, was introduced in the Unicode block “Various pictographic symbols” at position U + 1F4B6 .

The 0-euro note has been available in various designs since 2015 . It is intended as a collector's item and cannot be used as a means of payment. The ticket was approved by the Banque de France (as the authority responsible for the place of manufacture) as a "Euro souvenir". The 0 euro note is the same size as the 20 euro note and has "simple" banknote-like security features. The ticket can currently be purchased at 20 sales outlets in Germany, primarily as an advertising medium for leisure activities.

literature

Barbara Aulinger: From the guilder to the euro. History of the Austrian banknotes. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2000, ISBN 3-205-99027-7 .
Klaus W. Bender: Money maker. The most secret trade in the world. Wiley-VCH Verlag, Weinheim 2004, ISBN 3-527-50113-4 .
Euro catalog, coins and banknotes 2005. Leuchtturm Albenverlag, 2004, ISBN 3-00-012679-1 .

Web links

Commons : Euro banknotes - collection of images, videos and audio files

Euro banknotes. In: Deutsche Bundesbank. Retrieved July 10, 2019 .
The euro connects. In: European Central Bank. Accessed July 10, 2019 (German, English, French).
Gérard Caron: Les mystères du design de l'euro. August 20, 2012, accessed July 10, 2019 (French).
Information on the production volume (EuroTracer)
Page to track the path of euro banknotes
Nina Jerzy: Euro notes are created in these nine steps. Capital, July 4, 2019, accessed July 10, 2019 (With pictures of the printing and cutting of the printing sheets).
Bank Note Museum - EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b welt.de: ECB withdraws 500 euro notes from circulation . Article dated May 4, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016

↑ GMX: Grace period for the 500 euro note: Bundesbank extends issue . Report dated December 9, 2018, accessed December 13, 2018

↑ European Central Bank (ed.): The euro in draft . German version, September 2003 edition. n / a, 2011, ISBN 92-9181-394-X .

↑ Archive link ( Memento from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Rolf Benders: Too big for the world . In: Handelsblatt . No. 70 , April 11, 2013, ISSN 0017-7296 , p. 25 .

↑ Fight against black money: ECB is thinking about ending for 500 euro notes. spiegel.de, accessed on April 27, 2013 .

↑ ^a ^b orf.at: The abolition of the 500 euro note is approaching . Article dated February 15, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016

↑ European Central Bank: ECB stops producing and issuing the € 500 banknote. In: European Central Bank. Retrieved November 30, 2016 .

↑ Is the end of cash now? Article dated May 5, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016

↑ sueddeutsche.de: The 500 euro note has been around for a little longer in Germany . Article dated December 9, 2018, accessed December 10, 2018.

↑ ECB: No more € 500 banknotes will be issued . Retrieved April 27, 2019.

↑ Salzburger Nachrichten (sn.at): [ National bank stops issuing 500 euro bills ]. Report of April 26, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019.

↑ Combating the shadow economy: Bundesbank board of directors: 500 euro note is “always and forever”. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . April 26, 2019, accessed April 26, 2019 .

↑ diepresse.com: 500 euro note will be abolished . Article dated May 6, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016.

↑ Banknotes and coins circulation. European Central Bank, accessed on April 26, 2019 (English, data is updated monthly on approx. 14 working days).

↑ Images of the 44 drafts for the euro banknotes (PDF; 27.6 MiB)

^ Press release of the Deutsche Bundesbank

↑ Banknotes on the website of the Deutsche Bundesbank (accessed on July 14, 2020)

↑ Design elements and security features, 5 € (ES1). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Design elements and security features, 10 € (ES1). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Design elements and security features, € 20 (ES1). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Design elements and security features, € 50 (ES1). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Design elements and security features, € 100 (ES1). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Design elements and security features, € 200 (ES1). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Design elements and security features, € 500 (ES1). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c Dorit Hess: New features should make life more difficult for forgers . In: Handelsblatt. No. 247, December 20, 2012, ISSN 0017-7296 , p. 34 f.

^ Page of the Bundesbank on security features and counterfeit detection of euro banknotes ( Memento from June 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

↑ welt.de: The physics of banknotes is so ingenious September 26, 2014. Accessed on May 6, 2016 .

↑ The color impression depends on the viewing angle.

^ Bundesbank: Perlglanz ( Memento of May 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Security features of the Europa series (interactive). see video at "€ 100" tipping. ECB, accessed on May 11, 2019 .

↑ Less counterfeit money in circulation. Press release of the Deutsche Bundesbank of July 27, 2018. Accessed on April 26, 2019 .

↑ Country codes on the ECB website

↑ the highest serial numbers of German 10 and 50 Euro notes registered with EuroTracer
↑ Input mask for searching for the serial number of euro banknotes. The website for tracing € notes and coins across Europe and beyond. In: Eurotracer. Retrieved May 11, 2019 .
^ Oesterreichische Banknote- und Sicherheitdruckerei (OeBS). Retrieved May 11, 2019 .
^ Opinion on reports on fragile euro banknotes. Deutsche Bundesbank, November 2, 2006, accessed on May 11, 2019 .
↑ Experts are puzzling over crumbly euros. Stern Online, accessed May 11, 2019 .
↑ Pollutant risks: the euro is so toxic. Spiegel Online , December 28, 2001, accessed June 14, 2013 .
↑ Environmental impact of euro banknotes. (No longer available online.) European Central Bank , December 20, 2007, archived from the original on June 26, 2013 ; Retrieved June 14, 2013 .
↑ ECB: ECB Annual Report 2003. In: www.ecb.eu. P. 103 , accessed on August 14, 2019 .
↑ Dorit Hess: Play it safe . In: Handelsblatt. No. 247, December 20, 2012, ISSN 0017-7296 , p. 34 f.
↑ ECB develops new banknotes , Focus Online.
↑ More security: the ECB wants to issue new euro notes from 2013 , Spiegel Online from November 4, 2012. Accessed on November 5, 2012.
↑ Facelift for euro banknotes from 2013 ( Memento from December 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Südtirol Online from November 8, 2012.
↑ ECB: Press release: € 5 banknote of the Europa series in circulation from May 2, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013 .
↑ ECB: Key data on the Europa series. Retrieved December 31, 2013 .
↑ Fight against counterfeit money: This is the new 50 euro note. Spiegel Online, July 5, 2016, accessed on the same day.
↑ ^a ^b ECB stops producing and issuing the € 500 banknote. Press release. May 4, 2016, Retrieved May 6, 2016 .
↑ Central Bank: New Euro Banknote Series (2013)
↑ ^a ^b EZB: The design of the Europa series. Retrieved May 11, 2019 .
^ Decision of the ECB of April 19, 2013 on denominations, characteristics, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (PDF; 8 kB), accessed on May 3, 2013.
↑ Reinhold Gerstetter: Job report "Money has to look honest and serious, not cheesy". In: Spiegel Online. September 4, 2019, accessed on September 10, 2019 (In the protocol, designer Reinhold Gerstetter explains what you have to consider when designing banknotes.).
↑ The new face of the euro: discover the new € 10 banknote
^ The Bulgarian-Cyrillic spelling Euro , signographie.de, accessed on May 3, 2013.
↑ Order of the different language versions of a text and ISO codes (multilingual texts)
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f European Central Bank (ECB): The euro: design elements. Retrieved May 27, 2019 .
↑ Design elements and security features, 5 € (ES2). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .
↑ ^a ^b Euro notes lose their country code , welt.de of February 14, 2013.
↑ Communication 3005/2013 of the Deutsche Bundesbank dated May 24, 2013, BAnz AT June 6, 2013 B5

↑ Design elements and security features, 10 € (ES2). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Communication No. 3002/2014 of the Deutsche Bundesbank of August 15, 2014, BAnz AT August 29 , 2014 B4

↑ Design elements and security features, € 20 (ES2). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ The new 20 euro banknote - issuance event (highlights) ECB euro

↑ Design elements and security features, € 50 (ES2). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ Eurosystem is preparing to introduce the new € 50 note ( memento of June 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) of June 16, 2016. Accessed on June 26, 2016

↑ ECB presents new € 50 banknote dated July 5, 2016. Accessed July 5, 2016

↑ Design elements and security features, € 100 (ES2). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

↑ ^a ^b European Central Bank on Twitter . In: Twitter . ( twitter.com [accessed August 18, 2018]).

↑ ^a ^b New 100 and 200 euro banknotes in circulation. Deutsche Bundesbank, May 28, 2019, accessed on May 28, 2019 .

↑ Design elements and security features, € 200 (ES2). European Central Bank, accessed June 18, 2019 .

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↑ Security features of the Europa series (interactive). see "100 €", "Additional features". ECB, accessed on May 11, 2019 .

^ ECB: Banknotes - Design elements - Serial numbers on the Europa series of banknotes. Retrieved January 2, 2014 .

^ Royal Joh. Enschedé: Company will cease the production of banknotes in the near future. Retrieved June 10, 2017 .

↑ Welt.de: Bavaria says goodbye to the euro. Retrieved June 10, 2017 .

↑ Oliver Voß: Geldprüfer: At machines there is a risk of trouble with a five-euro note. Retrieved May 30, 2019 .

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↑ Regulation (EU) No. 1210/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 15, 2010 on the authentication of euro coins and the treatment of euro coins that are not suitable for circulation (PDF; 736 kB) , accessed on 4 December 2010 . April 2017

[34] Finland partially broke through the clear labeling of the value. There are 5 euro notes with numbers that were previously intended for notes of other denominations.

[35] On French 10 and 20 euro notes, in order to open up additional number spaces, higher values are used for the sheet position coding in the first two digits of the serial number, which exceed the number of possible positions. There are serial numbers up to U64 for 10 euro bills and up to U84 for 20 euro bills.

[36] At 50 euros (40 sheet positions), PP values between 01 and 80 occur. 7 and 8 as the first digit were originally used for 100 and 200 euros, and unused serial numbers with these digits were later also used for 50 euros.

[Welt.de_500-1] welt.de: ECB withdraws 500 euro notes from circulation . Article dated May 4, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016

[2] GMX: Grace period for the 500 euro note: Bundesbank extends issue . Report dated December 9, 2018, accessed December 13, 2018

[DerEuroImEntwurf-3] European Central Bank (ed.): The euro in draft . German version, September 2003 edition. n / a, 2011, ISBN 92-9181-394-X .

[4] Archive link ( Memento from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

[handelsblatt-2013-70-11-5] Rolf Benders: Too big for the world . In: Handelsblatt . No. 70 , April 11, 2013, ISSN 0017-7296 , p. 25 .

[6] Fight against black money: ECB is thinking about ending for 500 euro notes. spiegel.de, accessed on April 27, 2013 .

[ORF_500-Abschaffung-7] rf.at: The abolition of the 500 euro note is approaching . Article dated February 15, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016

[8] European Central Bank: ECB stops producing and issuing the € 500 banknote. In: European Central Bank. Retrieved November 30, 2016 .

[9] Is the end of cash now? Article dated May 5, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016

[10] sueddeutsche.de: The 500 euro note has been around for a little longer in Germany . Article dated December 9, 2018, accessed December 10, 2018.

[11] ECB: No more € 500 banknotes will be issued . Retrieved April 27, 2019.