On the last day before my holiday I decided to visit the local coin shop. Of course you can get everything online, but there is still something special about a brick-and-mortar store, right? The shop near where I work specializes in coins and stamps but they have a small collection of banknotes, mostly the 1-euro-each toilet paper like notes but I can always find something nice there. In places like that with a big basket full of cheap notes, I especially try to look for visually appealing banknotes. For instance, the back of the 20-korun note below from Czechoslovakia which I think is stunning.
Last but not least, I also received a very special banknote. This Christmas my family played secret Santa: everybody had to get one present for one other person. My little daughter of 5 had picked me and asked my wife: "Daddy loves banknotes but where does he buy them? I don't know where to get one!" My wife suggested she could make one herself. I think the result is very nice and I will give it a place of honour in my collection!
The National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia has issued the new banknotes of 200- and 2,000-denar on 15 December 2016. The Bank is also withdrawing the 5,000-denar notes. From 15 December 2016 to 28 February 2017 they can be exchanged at commercial banks. From 1 March 2017 the 5,000-denar notes can only be exchanged at the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia.
"Leitmotif of the obverse of the conceptual, and art and graphic design of the 200 denar banknote is the relief with a presentation of the 41st Psalm of David from the Old Testament, which belongs to the infamous terracotta icons from Vinica, one of the most important early medieval archaeological discoveries on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. On the same side, in the left center field, there is a presentation of an early medieval bow bronze fibula from the beginning of the VII century, found near Prilep. The reverse of the banknote contains a presentation of an architectural and art element of the frontal facade of the "Colorful (Aladzha) Mosque" in Tetovo, one of the most attractive monuments of architecture and art from the Ottoman period in the Republic of Macedonia, complemented by floral elements taken from the decoration of the marble floor tiles of the famous "Isaac Mosque" in Bitola, built at the beginning of the XVI century.
Leitmotif of the obverse of the conceptual, and art and graphic design of the 2000 denar banknote is the presentation of Macedonian bridal costume from Prilep Field, as an impressive reflection of the richness of the folklore heritage of the Republic of Macedonia. On the same side, in the left center field, there is a presentation of a pendant in the form of a poppy head, which was discovered in Suva Reka, Gevgelia. It is an artifact dated to the VII century BC and belongs to the well-known group of Paionian-Macedonian bronzes. The reverse of the banknote contains a presentation of the decoration of the inside of a gilded vessel, which originates from the XVI century and whose central field shows two affronted peacocks near the "source of life" surrounded by lavish floral decoration."
Designer of the new Swiss banknotes, Manuela Pfrunder, sheds some light on the difficult process of designing new banknotes for Switzerland. A fun read in German or translated by Google in English.
The Banco Central de Paraguay has issued three updated versions of the 20,000-, 50,000 and 100,000-guaranies notes, severalsites report. The three denominations have the same overall design as the current notes but have a new security thread, an updated watermark and new UV-features.
Below are examples of the new security thread in the three notes (source).
Russian banknote printer Goznak has issued a statement announcing a commemorative banknote celebrating the World Cup Football which will be held in Russia in 2018. From the site:
"Working upon the design of the commemorative banknote dedicated to the World Cup 2018 is almost accomplished. At the moment, there exist at least six design variants. The matter of printing the banknote on no paper but on an untraditional material for Russia is also being discussed. By the end of the year, all decisions concerning the design and technologies should be taken, so that in the middle of 2017 Goznak could start printing the commemorative banknote dedicated to the World Cup. Arkady Trachuk, General Director of Goznak, has told Izvestia about that and some other aspects of working upon the new banknote.
The 100-rouble commemorative banknote dedicated to the World Cup of 2018 will already be the third of the kind. The commemorative banknote dedicated to the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 was the first, and the 100-rouble banknote dedicated to the reunion with Crimea issued in 2015 was the second one. The fact that the Central Bank was planning to perpetuate the World Cup of 2018 in a banknote became known at the end of last year."
The new note will either be made from polymer or a composite material but definitely not paper. Printing will start mid-2017 and the note will be issued about 100 days before the event starts on 14 June 2018 so that would make it around 6 March 2018.
Regarding the design of the new note, some details have been mentioned: "We aspire to show both the history of football and its present on the banknote, to emphasize the involvement of the whole country in the World Cup", Mr. Trachuk noted.
Arkady Trachuk also said that the artists of Goznak together with their colleagues from the Bank of Russia continue to work upon the design using the results of an artistic competition the company held with the participation of ten educational institutions from the cities that will host the play-offs, who expressed their wish to take part in the artistic competition (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Yekaterinburg). And though nobody won the first place that would guarantee that the design idea would be applied on the banknote in full, design elements offered by the students are now taken into account by the professionals. At least six variants are considered now.
"The artists of Goznak and the Bank of Russia work taking into account the competition results. We are trying to find place for all the cities where the World Cup will take place, on the commemorative banknote. However, we will not be able to depict all the eleven stadiums on the banknote, of course. It is impossible", said Mr. Trachuk.
He informed that the number of 20 million pieces of banknotes was discussed preliminarily. But the decision hasn’t been taken yet.
The colour also remains a mystery. Head of Goznak only noted that it would be a warm pastel shade."
Update 18-5-2018: the new banknotes will be presented at the end of May 2018.
The National Bank of Argentina is issuing the new Flora and Fauna-series. The 200- and 500-pesos notes have already been issued but next year the notes of 20-, 50-, 100- and a new denomination of 1,000-pesos will be introduced.
The website Dia a Dia has pictures of the front of the new notes showing the local animals that will replace the currently pictured heroes. The back of the notes will show the region the animals live in. I'm pretty sure the colors are a bit too saturated in these pictures and the final design will be toned down a few notches.
The Bank Negara Malaysia has denied claims circulating on social media that new 1-, 5-, 50- and 100-ringgit banknotes would be issued in 2017.
The Central Bank stated that it "would like to confirm that this news is not true. The current series of banknotes will continue to be legal tender and remain in circulation”.
Picture on the website of the Bank Negara Malaysia:
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP: the Central Bank of the Philippines) has issued the first banknotes with the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte who has been president of the Philippines since 30 June 2016.
"BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the new bills are similar to those released in 2010 that bore the signature of then President Benigno Aquino III. It features the country's natural wonders and endemic species, such as the Tubbataha Reef and the tarsier."
The Bank of Koreaannounced in May of this year that in commemoration of the Winter Olympics 2018 which will be held in Pyeongchang from 9 - 25 February 2018 a special banknote will be issued. South Korea follows in the footsteps of China and Russia who also issued special commemorative banknotes celebrating their Olympic games of 2008 and 2014.
The Bank of Korea has now revealed what the new note will look like. "The commemorative note is 140 millimeters wide and 75 millimeters long. The front of the note will feature athletes engaging in seven of the key winter sports events -- speed skating, ski jumping, ice hockey, curling, biathlon, bobsleigh and luge. The other side portrays a tiger and a pine tree, both believed to symbolize the nation, as in the famous “Songhamaenghodo (...)” painting by a leading painter from the Joseon-era, Kim Hong-do (1745-1806 (...)), who went by the pen name Danwon (...)."
I really like the design of this note, especially the subdued color scheme and the combination of modern sports and the classic painting on the back. And as a 'Dutchie' I think the speed skating on the front is very cool of course. The new note will be available for the public at the end of 2017.
Update 11-10-2017: the new note will be available from 17 November 2017.
Update 28-11-2017: the release date has now been postponed to 14 December 2017.
The Central Bank of Nepal (Nepal Rastra Bank) has issued a new banknote of 20-rupees on 16 December 2016.
On the front of the red note we see Mount Everest (Chomolungma) left and a watermark of the national flower 'Rhododendron' in the right side. There is a signature of Governor Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal in the lower part of the note, and there is date mentioned as B.S.2072 in Nepali in the border.
The back shows two swamp deer (Barasingha) and the bank logo, the text 'NEPAL RASTRA BANK' in English and the text RUPEES TWENTY and 2016 A.D.
Information and images courtesy of Shankar Shrestha of www.nuphil.com.
The Bank Indonesia has issued a new series of banknotes on 19 December 2016. The new banknotes were announced last September and feature the faces of Indonesian heroes.
Although the Bank Indonesia issues the banknotes, the name on the notes reads: "Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia" (The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia) instead of "Bank Indonesia".
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has issued a speech transcription in which the speaker mentions that the new 20-francs banknote will be unveiled on 10 May 2017 and the new note will be issued to the public on 17 May 2017. From earlier reports we know that the new 20-francs note will be red and have Light as its main theme.
Issuance of the third denomination, the 10-franc note, is planned for autumn 2017. The exact date will be announced in due course. The 10-francs note will be yellow and have Time as its theme.
Several images were leaked in the social media but below are the official images of the new notes and a video of the presentation. In my opinion, they look pretty nice!
If a country is constantly making headlines regarding its money, it's usually not a good sign. The Central Bank of Venezuela is preparing for its new higher denominations to be issued from 15 December 2016, but in the mean time they're withdrawing the current highest denomination, the 100-bolivares note.
This move was needed to help stop criminal gangs profiteering on Venezuela’s border with Colombia, president Maduro said. Venezuelans have only 10 days to exchange their notes at the Central Bank. With the 100-bolivares being worth only 2 US cents one can question the effectiveness of this measure.
According to ArabNews.com the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency announced on Sunday that its name has been changed to Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. SAMA, the bank's acronym, remains unchanged.
Also, Asharq Al-Awsat reports that the SAMA will reveal a new series of banknotes on Tuesday 13 December 2016. The new series will have a new design and updated security features. A spokesperson of the SAMA has also made clear that there will be no 1,000-riyal note.
Update 13-12-2016: Ahead of the planned unveiling some photos of the new banknotes are already circulating online (for instance at Banknotenews.com). More to follow soon:
Update 13-12-2016: And a video with the new banknotes:
Update 14-12-2016: the pictures have been officially published.
The German news site Deutsche Welle reports that Iran is considering changing the currency from rial to toman. Iran has had the rial as its currency since 1932 but unofficially people have been using the name toman ever since with 1 toman being 10 rials.
The possible renaming of the currency is part of a longer process which started in the 1980's. The issue has re-emerged from time to time because of the low value of the rial and rising inflation. From Wikipedia: "On 12 April 2007, the Economics Commission of the Parliament announced initiation of a statute in draft to change the currency, claiming redenominations had helped reduce inflation elsewhere, such as in Turkey. In 2008, an official at the Central Bank of Iran said the bank plans to slash four zeros off the rial and rename it the toman. The bank printed two new travelers cheques, which function quite similar to a banknote, with values of 500,000 and 1,000,000 rials. However, they have the figures "50" and "100" written on their top right hand corners, respectively, which is seen as the first step toward a new currency.
In 2010, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran would remove three zeros (not the four that had been proposed) from its national currency as part of the economic reform plan.
In April 2011, it was reported that the Central Bank is working on a six-month redenomination project to cut four zeros from the national currency and replace old bank notes with new ones, similar to the redenomination of the Turkish lira and introduction of the Turkish new lira in 2005.
A website to poll the public on the redenomination plan was launched on 21 July 2011; the public was allowed to vote on how many zeroes to cut and what the new currency's name should be. Preliminary results indicate that four zeroes would be cut (in line with the government's recommendation) and that the name will be changed to Parsi."
So now it seems they're going for the toman after all. Which makes sense since everybody on the street is already using this name.
Update 12-12-2016: a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Iran has mentioned that we can expect new banknotes early 2017 if the Cabinet plans are approved by the parliament.
The Bank of Canada has chosen Viola Desmond (1914-1965) as the face of the next 10-dollar banknote of the new series. She is the second woman after Queen Elizabeth II but the first Canadian woman to feature on a banknote.
She was selected from a short list of five 'banknoteable' women which was publicized last November. From the website of the Bank of Canada: "Viola Desmond remains an icon of the human rights and freedoms movement in Canada. A successful Nova Scotia businesswoman, she defiantly refused to leave a whites-only area of a movie theatre in 1946 and was subsequently jailed, convicted and fined. Her court case was the first known legal challenge against racial segregation brought forth by a Black woman in Canada." You can read more about her here.
So what's next? The Bank of Canada: "The Bank will now begin to design this new $10 note featuring the portrait of Viola Desmond. Through consultation with subject matter experts, the reverse side of the note will depict symbols and images that represent the broader themes of social justice and the struggle for rights and freedoms.
To continue to celebrate more iconic Canadians, the next $5 note will also feature a new portrait subject and supporting imagery. In due course, the Bank will launch another consultation process to seek input from Canadians on the design of the next $5 note, building on the success of this most recent process.
This will be a few years in the making. The new $10 note is expected in late 2018, and the new $5 note will follow a few years after that, but soon enough two new notable Canadians will be celebrated on our currency. The subsequent notes (the $20, $50 and $100 notes) will follow every two to three years.
As Viola Desmond will be featured on the $10 note, and another iconic Canadian will be featured on the future $5 note, Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, and our first francophone Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, will be honoured on our higher value bank notes. This will take place when the higher value notes are redesigned for the next series.
These changes mean that former prime ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King and Sir Robert Borden will no longer be portrayed on bank notes. The $20 denomination will continue to feature the reigning monarch."
Lots of people in Britain are curently rubbing their new 5-pound banknotes. Are they looking for strips of bacon after the recent animal fat scandal? No, they're looking for a potential fortune.
Engraving artist Graham Short has engraved the image of writer Jane Austen in miniature on 4 new 5-pound notes and issued them quietly to the public. Based on previous work done by him, estimates of the worth of these little pieces of art are skyrocketing to 50,000 pound at the moment.
The engravings, which are next to Big Ben on the holographic foil, are invisible to the naked eye and can only be seen in certain lights. Short has worked for two weeks on the images. He also said he only works between midnight and 5 am to reduce the traffic noise from outside and he binds his right arm to a chair to stop unnecessary body movement.
As the newspaper The Independent points out: "... Mr Short's latest project could get him into trouble with the law as it is technically an offence to deface a banknote. Under the Currency & Banknotes Act 1928, it is illegal to print, write or impress words, letters or symbols onto notes issued by the Bank of England."
If he should be fined, I think he won't get into any financial trouble: "His previous work, a picture of the Queen’s head on a speck of gold the size of the eye of a needle, recently sold for £100,000."
On this Facebook page you can find a video of the actual artwork and how it looks on the banknote (so you know what to look for).
The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan has announced a revision of its 200-, 500- and 1,000-som banknotes. They are very much like the current series but with some small differences. The image on the front is slightly different, there is a new ornament on the front which incorporates the (very cool) MASK technology by Delarue and the new notes have the year 2016 on the back. The revised notes will be issued from 1 January 2017.
So Delarue will print these 3 denominations but Oberthur is responsible for the notes of 20-, 50-, 100- and 5,000-som. No news yet when these revised banknotes will be issued.
The Central Bank of Seychelles has issued its new series of banknotes on 5 December 2016. The new series was announced in November and consists of 4 denominations.
The theme of the new banknote family is "Seychelles' Unique Biodiversity – the backbone of our economy".
There have been numerous rumours (uno, dos, tres) that the Central Bank of Venezuela would one day issue higher denomination banknotes to deal with its gigantic inflation. When people have to take bags full of banknotes to stores where the notes are being weighed instead of being counted, you know you have a problem.
It seems the people of Venezuela can finally expect some relief because new notes are coming. You should be able to read about it in this press release, but unfortunately the website of the Central Bank is offline right now... That's not at all cause for panic right?
Anyway, the press release mentioned that we can expect 6 new denominations, starting from 15 December 2016 with a new 500-bolivares note. The other denominations will be: 1,000-, 2,000-, 5,000-, 10,000- and 20,000-bolivares. No news on the design yet.
Update 9-12-2016:Banknotenews.com has posted pictures of the new series.
By accepting the crown on 1 December 2016, Thailand officially has a new king. Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will henceforth be known as King Rama X. He succeeds his father King Bhumibol, or Rama IX, who died on 13 October 2016. The new king will be formally crowned next year after the official period of mourning has ended.
This means he will eventually also replace his father on all Thai banknotes. We have seen him there before however, like on this commemorative 100-baht banknote issued on 27 July 2012.
This news slipped by me I'm afraid. The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan has released a commemorative banknote of 1,000-ngultrum on 21 September 2016 to celebrate the birth of His Royal Highness The Gyalsey, Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck. He was born on 5 February 2016 and is the first child and heir apparent of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
From the press release: "The Banknote bears the Commemorative message “Celebrating the Birth of The Gyalsey, February 5, 2016” on the Obverse and the message “Birth of the Prince of Bhutan” on the Reverse side. The note bears the prefix “W” to mark the reign of the Wangchuck Dynasty. The note measures 175mm x 60mm, with the security thread enhanced to 4.0mm wide rolling star window thread with clear text. The note bears the signature of Governor, Dasho Penjore. The colour scheme and all other features of the commemorative banknote are the same as the Series 2008 Nu.1000 notes. The RMA has printed 3,420,000 pieces of the commemorative banknote through Giesecke & Devrient."
Sad news from The Netherlands. Dutch banknote printer Royal Joh. Enschedé has announced it will downsize the company and will stop printing banknotes...
Royal Joh. Enschedé has printed dutch banknotes, euro banknotes for several countries, all the dutch stamps and other security prints. The company was founded in 1703 and is one of the oldest dutch companies. On the euro notes of the first series you can identify the notes printed by Joh. Enschedé by looking at the printer code which starts with a G.
The euro notes were also the beginning of the end by the way because the company lost the monopoly it had in the Netherlands for printing banknotes and the Dutch Central Bank negotiated a price drop. The company was in financial trouble a few years back and was saved but it seems the troubles are not yet over...
All the beautiful notes Joh. Enschedé has printed over the years were compiled in one fantasy note titled "Mother of all Dutch Money" given to the employees in 2003 in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the company.
Well, there was a controversy I didn't expect! After a tweet was sent to the Bank of England asking if the new plastic pound notes contain tallow, the answer was a rather surprising 'yes'. Tallow is a rendered form of beef fat so of course vegans, vegetarians, hindus, sikhs and lots of other people were outraged that they were forced to use a product partly made from an animal. More than 118,000 people have already signed a petition at this moment, urging the Bank of England to remove tallow from the banknotes.
The Bank of England has responded to the controversy by promising to look into ways to make its banknotes more animal-friendly. At the time of signing the contract with polymer supplier Innovia the Bank of England wasn't aware that the product contained traces of animal fat.
Meanwhile, the Scottish banks have announced that their plastic notes also contain traces of animal fat. "The Clydesdale Bank, Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland, had previously all said their notes were free of animal products. (...) However, De La Rue, which makes the notes, said more detailed analysis had revealed animal derivative equivalent to a maximum of 0.003% per banknote."
I'm sure other countries that use polymer notes are also taking a closer look at their banknotes right now.
Hello, I'm Steven Bron and welcome to my blog on banknotes! Here you can find: breaking news, background articles and of course my personal collection (world notes or at least one from each country, commemorative notes and polymer notes).
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