Georgia to issue three new notes in 2016

The National Bank of Georgia has announced it will gradually issue three new banknotes in 2016. The 20-, 50- and 100-lari notes will be printed by De La Rue from England, Giesecke & Devrient from Germany and Oberthur Fiduciare from France. Quite interesting to have three separate printers for your notes. I wonder if that won't create a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy. It's unknown at this moment which printer is responsible for which note.

Update 14-01-2016: the new notes of 20- and 50-lari will be issued in February 2016 followed by the 100-lari note later this year. The 5- and 10-lari notes will be replaced at a later date.

Update 26-09-2016: the new 100-lari note will be issued on 1 November 2016.

The new notes in more detail:

20 lari. Size of banknote: 66 x 132 mm, color: magenta. Front: The portrait of the great Georgian writer and public figure Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907) with lettering of his name in Georgian. The newspaper "Iveria" publishing-house. The magazine "Sakartvelos Moambe" and newspaper "Iveria" established by Ilia, Ilia’s signature and his personal things – the lens, watch, pen and inkpot. The denomination numerals, letterings in Georgian and in English, 'NATIONAL BANK OF GEORGIA', 'Twenty Lari', the signature of the president of the National Bank of Georgia, the issue date '2016' and the serial number composed of two Roman letters and eight Arabic numerals. Back: a panorama of old Tbilisi, a 17th century plan of Tbilisi city created by Vakhushti Batonishvili’s in 1735, the monument of the great Georgian king Vakhtang Gorgasali adjacent to the Metekhi church, the coat of arms of Georgia and denomination numerals and letterings in Georgian and in English.

50 lari. Size of banknote: 68 x 137 mm, color: green. Front: the portrait of Georgian King Tamar with lettering in Georgian, a 12th to 13th century monasterial complex in cave "Vardzia", the bas-relief from the Pitareti Virgin Mary Monastery from the 13th century. The denomination numerals, letterings in Georgian and in English, the signature of the president of the National Bank of Georgia, the issue date '2016' and the serial number composed of two Roman letters and eight Arabic numeral. Back: a miniature of the Zodiac sign 'Sagittarius', the manuscript from a 12th century script collection, the coat of arms of Georgia and the denomination numerals and letterings in Georgian and in English.

100 lari. Size of banknote: 70 x 142 mm, color: violet. Front: a portrait of the great Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli with lettering in Georgian, an illustration from the great poem 'The Knight in the Tiger Skin', one of the pages of its original prints and one of the ornaments from its original manuscript, a 7th century bas-relief of 'Daniel in the Den of Lions' from Martvili Cathedral of Assumption of the Virgin Mary The denomination numerals, letterings in Georgian and in English, 'NATIONAL BANK OF GEORGIA', 'One Hundred Lari', the signature of the president of the National Bank of Georgia, the issue date '2016' and the serial number composed of two Roman letters and eight Arabic numerals. Back: the Zakaria Paliashvili’s National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet a fragment from the score of the Georgian national anthem, the coat of arms of Georgia and the denomination numerals, letterings in Georgian and in English.

Well, don't they sound like a very patriotic threesome? I'm sure the design of these notes has something to do with the continuing tensions in the region between Georgia and neighboring Russia. The notes almost scream: we are Georgia and we are proud of our nation and history. And why not indeed? Below is a video showing the new notes.