Russia declines to issue 2,000-ruble banknote

An article from The Moscow Times: "Russia's Central Bank has declined to issue a 2,000-ruble banknote honoring the far eastern city of Vladivostok, state news agency RIA Novosti reported Monday.

The proposed banknote, inspired by the song "Vladivostok 2000" by hometown rock stars Mumy Troll, was designed by Russian advertising firm Provoda and become wildly popular on the RuNet, as the Russian-language section of the Internet is known.

The Central Bank, which said it often receives proposals for new banknotes, declined to issue this one "due to the economic situation in the country and considering the demands of cash circulation," RIA cited the bank as saying.

The country's main banknotes in circulation honor an array of Russian cities: Krasnoyarsk (10-ruble banknote), St. Petersburg (50), Moscow (100), Arkhangelsk (500), Yaroslavl (1,000) and Khabarovsk (5,000). The Central Bank in 2013 also issued a limited edition 100-ruble banknote dedicated to the Winter Olympics in Sochi."

Steven Woensdag 18 Februari 2015 at 08:56 am | | links | Geen reacties
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Kurdistan to issue its own banknotes?

Numismatic News has an interesting article about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey who want to issue their own money in the areas they control (southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and western Iran (Eastern Kurdistan)). It's interesting to see that at the same time ISIS (or IS) also have plans to issue their own money but won't issue any banknotes in contrast to the plans of the PKK.

Below is an image that is supposed to be the new Kurdish money, picturing their captive leader Abdullah Öcalan.

the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey - See more at: http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/kurdistan-militants-seek-own-currency?et_mid=724960&rid=245938659#sthash.c6fyKsJX.dpuf
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey - See more at: http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/kurdistan-militants-seek-own-currency?et_mid=724960&rid=245938659#sthash.c6fyKsJX.dpuf
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey - See more at: http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/kurdistan-militants-seek-own-currency?et_mid=724960&rid=245938659#sthash.c6fyKsJX.dpuf

Steven Woensdag 18 Februari 2015 at 08:38 am | | news | Geen reacties
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Sweden reveals new banknotes

The Sveriges Riksbank has revealed the final design of the new banknote series. The 20, 50, 200 and 1,000 krona banknotes will become legal tender on 1 October 2015. The 100 and 500 krona banknotes will become legal tender in 1 October 2016. 

The following themes and portraits are used:

  • 20 kronor: Astrid Lindgren (writer), Småland, issued 1 October 2015
  • 50 kronor: Evert Taube (writer, composer, singer), Bohuslän, issued 1 October 2015
  • 100 kronor: Greta Garbo (actrice), Stockholm, issued 3 October 2016
  • 200 kronor: Ingmar Bergman (director, producer, writer), Gotland, issued 1 October 2015
  • 500 kronor: Birgit Nilsson (soprano), Skåne, issued 3 October 2016
  • 1000 kronor: Dag Hammarskjöld (diplomat, economist, writer), Lapland, issued 1 October 2015

Update 23-10-2015: on this site you can admire some of the designs that didn't make it.






Steven Maandag 16 Februari 2015 at 4:51 pm | | news | Geen reacties
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Dutch town issues its own local money

Local money can be found all over the world. Soon also in the Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn. Denominations of 5, 10 and 25 alpha's (cool name!) will be issued which can be spend at selected shops in town or in exchange for particular services provided in the city. This is of course done to promote the local economy. The 'banknotes' will get all the basic security features and are traceable.

Looking at the images of the alpha's below I got the sense they might've been inspired by the recent Norwegian designs.

Steven Woensdag 11 Februari 2015 at 09:36 am | | news | Geen reacties
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Belarus 'considering' 500,000 ruble banknote

The site Belarusian News mentions that the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus is considering issuing a new 500,000 ruble banknote. "We consider issuing a new banknote valued at Br500,000. The final decision will be made taking into account the current economic situation and will be announced by the National Bank in advance," the bank said.

This is however not the first rumour from Belarus (see here and here) so we'll just have to wait and see if there's any real value to this story.

Steven Zaterdag 24 Januari 2015 at 4:22 pm | | news | Geen reacties
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Bangladesh keeps its 1 and 2 taka notes

Bangladesh will keep its 1 and 2 taka notes despite reports stating otherwise from earlier this week. This was announced by Finance Minister AMA Muhith. On monday he reported that the 1 and 2 taka notes (which are issued by the Ministry of Finance in contrast to the other banknotes which are issued by the Central Bank) would be gradually withdrawn from the market.

Now he has stated however that "they will cease to exist if people stop using them". There are also coins available with a denomination of 1 and 2 taka but as it seems these two notes aren't going anywhere soon.


Steven Maandag 19 Januari 2015 at 2:54 pm | | news | Geen reacties
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Cambodia issues new notes of 100 and 500 riels

According to the Khmer Times the National Bank of Cambodia has issued two new banknotes of 100 and 500 riels:  

"The 100 riels note depicts the King Father as a young monk on the front, the Silver Palace on the back and a Khmer statue as the watermark. The new 500 riel note will feature King Sihamoni on the front, the Kizuna bridge on the back and the Nak Loeung Bridge as the watermark. Both bridges are Japan-financed and their depiction on the banknote remarks on the good ties between Cambodia and Japan."

Update 19-01-2015: And of course there is some controversy because people feel offended...



Steven Zaterdag 17 Januari 2015 at 2:53 pm | | news | Geen reacties
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New additions week 3 - 2015

Just one new note added this week which I picked from the 'trash tray' at the local coin shop. It's a 100 Kronen note from Austria (P77). 

Steven Vrijdag 16 Januari 2015 at 8:21 pm | | new additions | Geen reacties

Cuba to introduce higher denominations in February

In 2013 the Central Bank of Cuba announced it would abolish the two-currency system. Since 1994 Cuba has had two currencies, one pegged to the US dollar and the other worth only a fraction of that. The more valuable convertible peso (CUC) was reserved for use in the tourism sector and foreign trade. 

In October 2014 I wrote about the need for higher denominations to go ahead with this plan. It has now been announced what this means. Right now the highest denomination is 100 pesos which is only about 4 US dollars. From 1 February 2015 notes of 200, 500 and 1,000 pesos will start to circulate.  



Steven Vrijdag 16 Januari 2015 at 7:55 pm | | news | Geen reacties
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Cape Verde issues second batch of new banknotes

After the first three new banknotes of 200, 1,000 and 2,000 escudos were issued in December 2014, the second batch of new notes have been issued on 2 January 2015. These are the 500 and 5,000 escudos notes.

The new 500 escudo note honours Jorge Barbosa (1902-1971), writer and a founder of the "Claridade" literary movement as well as his home island, Santiago.

The 5,000 escudo note depicts the first president of Cabo Verde Aristides Maria Pereira (president from 1975 to 1991), who died on 22 September 2011, and his native island, Boa Vista.

Sadly I have no pictures yet. Seriously: if you put out new banknotes, wouldn't you want to show them proudly on the website of your national bank??

Steven Woensdag 07 Januari 2015 at 09:40 am | | news | Geen reacties
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Maldives announces commemorative note for 2015

The Maldives Monetary Authority has, according to HaveeruOnline, announced that 28 designers have been selected to submit their proposals for a new commemorative banknote due to be issued in 2015 to commemorate Maldives’ 50th year of Independence.

"The central bank said on Friday that with the 28 proposals, it will begin its evaluation.

According to the MMA, the best proposals will be shortlisted and the Authority will contact the shortlisted artists by the 11th of January. The artists will be asked to produce a 15-minute presentation and will go through an interview on the 15th. The top three artists will be chosen to design the bank notes by the 19th.

The artists will have to present a final design by the 17th of February. MMA said that all dates – other than the deadline – is subject to change but that the artists will be given due notification of said changes."

An exact date of issue is not mentioned but the Maldives gained independence on 26 July 1965 so we can expect the new note around July I think.

Steven Woensdag 07 Januari 2015 at 09:31 am | | news | Geen reacties
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Send in your nominations for IBNS Banknote of the Year!

With the coming of the new year it's also time to reflect on the past year and that means: time to send in your nomination for Banknote of the Year! This annual award is organised by the IBNS and has been won for the past three years by Kazachstan (123).

Of course it would be easy to nominate their new banknote for this award and have a very good chance of nominating the winning banknote. But I decided to nominate a bit of an outsider this year: the 5,000 francs note from the French Pacific Territories which was issued on 20 January 2014

My reasons:

  1. I think it's a bold move to completely depart from the old design which was loved and admired  for decades by users and collectors worldwide.
  2. The look and color of this particular 5,000 francs note is beautiful and really gives the series its 'tropical' feel.

If you disagree please feel free to nominate your own favorite banknote issued in 2014. All the information and other nominees can be found here.

Steven Vrijdag 02 Januari 2015 at 10:22 am | | links | Vijf reacties
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Ukraine announces new 100 hryvnia banknote

The National Bank of Ukraine has announced (Google translate) a new 100 hryvnia banknote to be issued on 9 March 2015. The redesigned note will have added security features like a windowed security thread and a SPARK patch. The front of the note shows the image of poet and artist Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861). 

Images of the new note and the presentation:

© National Bank of Ukraine
© www.banknotenews.com
© www.banknotenews.com

Steven Vrijdag 02 Januari 2015 at 09:44 am | | news | Geen reacties
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The Philippines starts demonetization of old series

As mentioned in a post on 1 January 2014 the Philippines have started the demonetization process of its old banknote series. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP: the Central Bank of the Philippines) has announced this step in this press release

"The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announces today the start of the demonetization process on 1 January 2015 for the old banknotes (New Design Series, NDS) as part of its objective to preserve the integrity of Philippine currency."

The NDS banknotes can be used until the end of 2015. 

Steven Vrijdag 02 Januari 2015 at 09:34 am | | news | Geen reacties
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India will print the 1 rupee once more

The Government of India has announced that for the first time in 20 years the 1 rupee note will be printed again. The note was discontinued in 1994 because of high costs.

As before, the new one rupee note will have the signature of the Finance Secretary. Apart from the one rupee note, all other paper currency (2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 rupees) have the signature of the RBI Governor, as these are issued by the Reserve Bank of India , whereas the 1 rupee note is issued by the Government of India. 

I'm not sure you will be able to buy a lot with the new note though, since 1 rupee equals 0.013 euro and 0.015 US dollar. No word on the design of the new note yet, but this was the design of the notes printed in 1994:

© www.banknoteworld.com

Steven Vrijdag 02 Januari 2015 at 09:24 am | | news | Geen reacties
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