Yesterday I read a very interesting article on the website FTM.nl (Follow The Money) titled "This is our new currency (if things go wrong with the euro)". It's an investigative journalism site which is unfortunately behind a paywall, but if you sign-up you can read the first month for free after which the subscription is cancelled automatically (articles are in Dutch but Google Translate will get you pretty far, for those interested).
Anyway, what peaked my interest was of course the title and subject of the article. There have always been rumours that during the Greek debt crisis the financial world and the Finance Ministers in particular took into consideration that the euro might collapse. What then? We couldn't just open the vaults and bring out the old gulden banknotes again.
The Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem never publicly admitted it but in deepest secret the Dutch banknote printer Royal Joh. Enschedé was preparing for exactly such an event. The article describes the search for these illustrious banknotes and the secrecy surrounding the production. Even admitting that such banknotes were being printed for a worst case scenario could very well have been explained as the Dutch already giving up on the euro furthering its downfall.
Although the journalist eventually had confirmation that the banknotes had indeed be printed, he never had visual proof of them. Rumour has it that they are still being kept in a gigantic vault in the middle of The Netherlands. No proof, until he met a retired public servant from the Dutch Ministry of Finance who (after some hesitation) showed him the note below.
It's supposed to be a banknote of 5-florijn, the so-called proposed new currency of the post-euro Netherlands. As you may know, the florijn has been a currency in the past and is still used today in some parts of the world. How totally awesome would a find like that be??
Well... it's not. What the journalist was shown is a 5-florijn testnote from Royal Joh. Enschedé. A note which is not a secret at all but can be bought on eBay. The search for the real secret post-euro banknotes continues, I guess.
Image © www.ftm.nl.
I recently visited my local brick and mortar store to get new plastic sheets for banknotes (I always use Leuchtturm Vario 3C by the way) but I couldn't pass the 1-euro bin without looking at the notes. For some reason I always find something wedged between some raggedy old notes. This day was no exception since there were a lot of new notes recently added.
The harvest of this week:
- Romania - 1 lei (P117d)
- Czech Republic - 20 korun (P10a)
- Thailand - 20 baht (p124a1)
- Mexico - 20 pesos (P122k1)
- Russia - 100 rubles (P13b.c01 and proving that size does matter)
- France - Chambre de Commerce Marseille - 50 centimes (PNL)
The governor of the Banque Centrale du Congo (BCC), Deogratias Mutombo Mwana Nyembo, announced on 13 March 2017 new notes for the banknote series from 500 Congolese francs to 20,000 Congolese francs.
Part of the reason for this decision is the massive counterfeiting in Congo. Recent reports mention that 1.2% to 2% of the circulating highest denomination notes of 20,000 Congolese francs is actually false. This was the work of a gang that included a Director of the Banque Centrale du Congo by the name of Paluku, who stole the plates and had the notes printed in a country in Asia.
The banknotes of the new series will have new security features.
The Central Bank of Barbados has issued a special banknote celebrating the island’s golden jubilee. It is basically the same banknote issued in 2013 but with an added logo on the front reading "Barbados 50".
From the press release: "We felt it was important to recognise this milestone in our nation's history with a commemorative note," said Octavia Gibson, Deputy Director, Currency at the Central Bank. "We consider the choice of the $50 apt, not only because of the denomination, but also because it bears the portrait of the Father of Independence, the Right Excellent Errol Barrow." The back of the note also carries a shot of Independence Square in Bridgetown.
Gibson assured the public that while the commemorative note carries the "Barbados 50" logo in the upper right corner of the front of the note, the security features have not changed. "You will see the same watermark, the ghost image of Errol Barrow, when you hold the note up to the light. The bars near the centre of the note still shift from red and green when the note is tilted and then become a complete strip when it is held up, and there is still the holographic foil patch on the right side. The features that people use to authenticate their notes have not changed."
Recently we had a teambuilding day at work. One of the tasks was to present something personal and talk about it. Of course I brought a banknote with me and talked about this beautiful hobby. This in turn led to several co-workers remembering that they also had some banknotes in their attics which they generously donated to me.
So I have added the following notes to my collection:
- Czechoslovakia, 10 Korun, P94
- Czechoslovakia, 20 Korun, P95 (which I already had but in much worse condition).
- Lithuania, 1 Litas, P53a
The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced that the size of future Iranian banknotes will be reduced, Newslist reports.
"The Central Bank of Iran plans to print banknotes in smaller sizes, the director of CBI’s Office for Banknote Issuance said.
"CBI is also working on new designs for 50,000-rial and 100,000-rial banknotes," Fars News Agency also quoted Masoud Rahimi as saying on Saturday.
The central bank last week unveiled a new version of 10,000-rial banknotes, which is smaller than the current notes, during President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to the bank."
The Central Bank of Russia will issue new 200- and 2,000-ruble banknotes this year. The public chose the themes of Sevastopol and Kazan to be on the two new banknotes. Sevastopol has the Monument to the Scuttled Ships and Chersonesus as its local themes. For Kazan it's the Kremlin and the Kazan Federal University. Now pictures are circulating online which supposedly show the new notes. The notes could be issued soon.
To be honest: I'm not convinced. The "200-ruble note" shown here looks more like one of the designs entered in the competition. The "2,000-ruble note" looks more finished but I don't immediately recognize the announced themes on this banknote. Perhaps a Russian reader recognizes the places shown on the note?
Update 21-03-2017: I asked and reader Kirill delivers. The notes shown here are indeed fakes. The actual design is still unknown at this point.
The Bank of Ghana has issued (pdf) its new commemorative 5-cedis banknote in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Central Bank.
From the press release: "The design of the GHS5 commemorative note draws inspiration from significant milestones and achievements in Ghana?s socio-political history by one of the illustrious sons of this country, Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey." A portrait of Dr. Aggrey features on the front. Also on the front is the celebration theme: "Celebrating 60 years of central banking in Ghana 1957 – 2017.", the national coat of arms and the date of "4th March 2017".
The back of the note shows the cowry (shell money) or what is originally called "sedee" from which the national currency "The Cedi" was derived; and the Cocoa pod and Gold Bars which reflects their economic importance to the Ghanaian economy. We also see the FPSO Nkrumah, the drill ship and the oil rig, which represents the economic importance of oil to the Ghanaian economy and a QR-code linking to a website of the Central Bank that explains the details of the national banknotes.
The note is legal tender as well as a collector's item.
The Banco Central de Paraguay has stated it's ready for the redenomination of the national currency by eliminating three zeros when Congress approves it.
The nation has been preparing for this move with the value on the current series of banknotes being shown as for instance "20 mil" instead of "20,000". The new banknotes would only have to drop the "mil" or get stamped over to be able to keep on using them.
The Banco Central de la República Argentina will issue the new 1,000-pesos banknote in November 2017 according to an article on Nuevo Diario. The 1,000-pesos note shows the Rufous Hornero bird and the Center Region of Argentina.
The same article also mentions that the old 100-pesos notes with the face of former Argentine President Julio Argentino Roca will gradually be taken off the market and destroyed by a new machine capable of shredding 10 million notes per day.
Update 21-5-2017: other sources say the new note will be issued in October.
Update 28-11-2017: multiple news outlets report that this note will be issued from early December 2017.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has announced that a new note of 10,000-som will be issued on 10 March 2017. The note has been publicized on the website of the Central Bank and is different from the one circulating online in February 2017. The new note will be the highest denomination in the country.
The front of the blue note shows the national coat of arms. On the back we can see the Senate building in Tashkent. The new notes are 144 x 78 mm in size.
The Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary) is in the process of replacing all its banknotes. The 10,000- and 20,000-forint notes have already been replaced. On 1 March 2017 the new 2,000- and 5,000-forint banknotes were released to the public, according to this press release.
The new 2,000-forint has an image of Prince Gábor Bethlen on the front and Gábor Bethlen among his scientists on the back. The note has an issue date of 15 November 2016 and is 154 mm x 70 mm. For an overview of security features see this helpful site.
The 5,000-forint note has portrait of Count István Széchenyi on the front and Széchenyi's mansion at Nagycenk on the back. This note also has an issue date of 15 November 2016 and is the same size: 154 mm x 70 mm. Security features can be found here.
Banknotenews.com reports that a new 1,000-forint note will be issued in the second half of 2017.
The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced that in June 2017 a new note of 10,000-rials will be issued. The new note is reduced in size (from 77 × 160 mm to 71 × 142), has a large number 1 as a registration device and invisible security fibers in yellow, red, blue and green, which are visible with ultraviolet light.
The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan introduced three updated notes at the beginning of the year, and now they have added two other updated denominations to this set.
The notes of 50- and 100-som have updated portraits, new signatures and the year 2016.
Yes'it's that time of the year again: voting has started to elect the Banknote of the Year 2016. The winner will be decided by a vote of the IBNS, who will consider the artistic merit, design, use of colour, contrast, balance, and security features of each nomination. The winner will be announced at the the first IBNS Board meeting of the year in Valkenburg, the Netherlands in April 2017 at the annual Paper Money Fair.
Every member of the IBNS is able to vote and choose their personal top 3. I haven't nominated any banknotes myself this year because the note I wanted to nominate (the Swiss 50-francs note), had already been sent in by another IBNS member.
The nominees this year are:
My personal top 3 will be:
- Switzerland's 50 Franc
- Argentina's 500 Peso
- Maldives 1,000 Rufiyaa
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