The Royal Bank of Scotland has presented its new 20-pound note which will enter circulation in 2020. The new note will be the first 20-pound Scottish banknote to feature a woman other than the Queen on its front.
The new polymer note will feature an image of Kate Cranston, the turn of the century entrepreneur who commissioned Charles Rennie Mackintosh to design her famous Glasgow venue. The note was revealed at her legendary tearoom in Glasgow. The tearooms made a cultural impact during her life due to offering venues where women could enter unchaperoned. Following her death in 1934, her fortune was left to support the poor and the homeless in the city.
The 20-pound note is the third in a series of 'Fabric of Nature' themed notes made from De La Rue's Safeguard polymer material and will also contain a variety of new security features.
In keeping with the Fabric of Nature theme, the new 20-pound note features illustrations of red squirrels on its reverse and also features the blaeberry fruit. It also includes extracts from 16th century Scottish poet Mark Alexander Boyd's work, Cupid and Venus.
The new note will carry the same exclusive weave pattern developed by textile designers Alistair McDade and Elspeth Anderson for the polymer 5- and 10-pound notes.
The red squirrels on a tree illustration for the 20-pound follow mackerel in the sea on the 5-pound note and otters on the shore for the 10-pound note.
Earlier in August I reported about Curacao and St. Maarten who might also be planning a new series of banknotes. I wrote that the notes could be planned for introduction in 2021. I finished by stating that the two special municipalities within the Kingdom of the Netherlands use the Antiliaanse gulden as currency.
Well... it turns out they won't anymore. MRI Guide writes that Curacao and St. Maarten will issue banknotes in the denominations of 10-, 20-, 50- and 100-carribean guldens. "The parity of the new monetary unit will remain unchanged from the current Netherlands Antilles guilder, at 1.79 Caribbean guilder per U.S. dollar."
I'm hoping for some nice tropical Carribean design!
The Norges Bank has issued the new 50- and 500-kroner notes of the new Norwegian banknote series on 18 October 2018.
The theme of the new series is the Sea. When the winning concept was announced it created quite a stir among collectors and in the world of banknotes. The design shows a traditional image on the front which has a connection with the sea (a boat, a lighthouse, a wave, etc.). The back of the notes shows a pixelated image connected with the image on the front which gives it an ultra-modern and very original design.
Some details on the new notes:
50-krone, green, 70x126 mm, front: Utvær Lighthouse in Solund, back: lighthouse beacon
The Reserve Bank of Australia has issued its new 50-dollar note on 18 October 2018. As with the previous banknote, the new 50-dollar features portraits of Aboriginal writer and inventor David Unaipon and the first female member of an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan.
The security features include a top-to-bottom clear window that contains dynamic features such as a reversing number. There is also a patch with a rolling-colour effect and microprint featuring excerpts from David Unaipon's book and Edith Cowan's maiden parliamentary speech.
The Bank of England has launched the selection of a new character for the 50-pound banknote which is due for release after the introduction of the 20-pound note in 2020. Like the other notes in the new series the new 50-pound note will also be printed on polymer.
The BOE will seek nominations from the public to select the new face for this banknote.
The Banco Central de Bolivia has introduced the third banknote of the new family of banknotes which started with the 10-boliviano note back in April 2018. Every three months a new denomination will be issued and on 15 October the 50-boliviano note got the spotlights. The new notes are printed by Oberthur Fiduciare SAS who won the tender last year.
The Bank of Papua New Guinea will issue a commemorative 100-kina note to commemorate the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in November 2018. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an inter-governmental forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
The banknote will enter circulation from 17 November 2018. No word yet on the design but perhaps they will use a similar seal like they did with the commemorative note issued for the 40th anniversary of the Bank of Papua New Guinea back in 2013.
The National Bank of Moldavia has chosen a list of 17 designers who will compete for the designs of future regular and commemorative banknotes.
At the same time there are rumours that the Central Bank of Moldavia is thinking about switching to polymer banknotes in the future. The first polymer banknotes might be issued already in 2019?
On 27 September 2018 the Central Bank of the Bahamasissued a new 20-dollar banknote. During the presentation it was also announced that new 1/2- and 3-dollar banknotes in the CRISP Evolution series will be released in 2019.
So for collectors of 'unusual' denominations: something to look forward to!
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has issued a new 20-dollar note on 27 September 2018 in the new CRISP Evolution series. CRISP is an acronym for Counterfeit Resistant Integrated Security Product. The description of the new note from the press release:
"Predominantly magenta with shades of pink, green, orange, blue and yellow, the banknote measures 156 mm long and 67 mm wide bearing on the front a portrait of Sir Milo B. Butler, the series, and the signature of the Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas, together with the words "Central Bank of The Bahamas. These notes are legal tender under the Central Bank of The Bahamas Act 2000 for the payment of any amount Twenty Dollars". A watermark of Sir Milo B. Butler and the numeral $20, a replica map of the islands of The Bahamas, and the denominational value in words and figures appear on the left, with an image of a bougainvillea flower in the center. The back features a likeness of the tower at Festival Place overlooking the Nassau Harbor. The numeral $20 appears in the upper left and lower right corners, while the words "Twenty Dollars" flank the Sir Sidney Poitier and Paradise Island bridges. Just below the tower is the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas along with the words "Central Bank of The Bahamas".
To coincide with the release of this banknote, and to complement its online training tool, the Central Bank will also release the first iteration of its banknote app which includes detailed tutorials on the key security features of the $20 banknote and other denominations. The app, like the online training tool, can be used to assist members of the public with identifying genuine Bahamian banknotes.
For more information on the CRISP Evolution $20 banknote and the Central Bank's Banknote App, kindly visit the Bank's website at www.centralbankbahamas.com."
The Central Bank of Sudan has started the printing process for new banknotes of 100 and 500 pounds, according to alrakoba.net. No images are available yet but rumour has it that the new banknotes might be printed in Germany (perhaps Giesecke and Devrient....?) and that they will be issued in October 2018.
Let's wait and see!
Update 28-10-2018: it appears there will also be a 200-pounds note issued.
The Banco Central del Uruguay has started with the preparations for the introduction of two new polymer banknotes in 2020. The notes are: 20 and 50 pesos uruguayanos.
The 20-pesos note will be smaller than the current ones. The 50-pesos will have the same size as the commemorative note issued in September.
The National Bank of the Republic of Abkhazia has issued a commemorative banknote of 500 apsars. The note has been issued in commemoration of "the 25th anniversary of the Victory in the Patriotic War of the People of Abkhazia". Date of issue: 29 September 2018, size of the banknote: 150 x 65 mm, mintage: 10,000 pieces.
From the press release: "The main image of the front side of the banknote is a portrait of the First President of the Republic of Abkhazia V. G. Ardzinba, underneath which there is an inscription “Vladislav Ardzinba”. In the background, warriors of the Abkhazian Armed Forces are depicted raising the banner of Victory. The images are imposed on the traditional Abkhazian ornament. From left to right in a semicircle, there are seven stars from the state flag of the Republic of Abkhazia. In the lower left corner, there is the state emblem. In the left corner, the denomination of “500 apsars” is indicated in two vertical lines.
The main image of the reverse side of the banknote is a map of the Republic of Abkhazia and enclosed in a decorative rim, a silhouette of the architectural complex of the capital of Abkhazia, Sukhum, against the background of a symbolic fortress tower with the state emblem of the Republic of Abkhazia. Along the circumference of the rim, there is an inscription in the Abkhazian language “Нагӡара ақәзааит Аԥсынра” (“May Abkhazia reach completion”). Underneath the image, there is the number “500”. A traditional ornament serves as the background of the composition. On the reverse side, the image of the seven stars is duplicated, and also the denomination in the right corner — 500 apsars.
The banknote has two serial numbers located on the reverse side of the banknote. They consist of a two-letter indication of the series and nine digits. The left number can be read on the long side of the banknote, the right one — on the short side.
In the lower right-hand side of the reverse side of the banknote, there is a QR code with a link to the Bank of Abkhazia website containing a description of the banknote’s security features.
The security features of the banknote include a common watermark and two types of protective fibres, a colour-shifting security element “HMC” (“hidden multi-colour”), the Orlov effect in offset and metallographic printing, graphic guilloche elements and elements of copy protection.
The banknote is in brown and green colours, and it is made out of white cotton paper."
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a de facto and partially recognized republic on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, in northwestern Georgia. The separatist Abkhazian polity, formally the Republic of Abkhazia, is recognised as a state by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria. While Georgia lacks control over Abkhazia, the Georgian government and most United Nations member states legally consider Abkhazia part of Georgia, whose constitution designates the area as the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.
The Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus has decided to modify the existing banknotes while retaining the main images on the front and back sides, as well as their color and size. Some of the images will be modified. The new banknotes will be put into circulation from 2019-2020.
In accordance with the new edition of the rules of Belarusian spelling and punctuation on a 50-ruble note, the inscription "ПЯЦЬДЗЕСЯТ" will be changed to "PYAZJDZYAT".
The 5- and 10-rubles notes will have 2019 on the note and start circulation in that year. The 20- and 50-rubles banknotes will start circulation in 2020 and will have that year showing on the note.
Hello, I'm Steven Bron and welcome to this special blog on banknotes with a space and astronomy theme! My primary focus is on notes that show astronomers and their work, solar systems, planets, constellation, space crafts, satellites, observatories, telescopes and so on. My goal is to describe every banknote from around the world with such a theme.
You can find my main blog on the world of banknotes by clicking here.
Disclaimer: most of the pictures on this blog are from Banknoteworld.com.
The Royal Bank of Scotland has presented its new 20-pound note which will enter circulation in 2020. The new note will be the first 20-pound Scottish banknote to feature a woman other than the Queen on its front.
Earlier in August I 
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