The Central Bank of Syria has issued a new 1,000-pound note on 30 June 2015. Maybe rather surprisingly the new note doesn't have a picture of the current (Bahsar Assad) or former president (Hafez Assad) on it but rather an image of an ancient Roman theater in the southern Daraa province.
Governor Adib Mayaleh's statement, carried by the state news agency SANA, says the move is part of efforts to improve the paper currency in circulation. Mayaleh insists the new banknote will not affect the rate of inflation but that it will simply replace 70 billion worn-out banknotes that are being withdrawn.
Even more news from Poland. In the same press conference where the updated 200-zloty banknote was shown by the Narodowy Bank Polski (National Bank of Poland, NBP) it was also announced that in 2018 a new 500-zloty note will be introduced.
The new note will feature the image King Jan Sobieski III, thus continuing the chronological continuity of the "Polish Rulers" series. The NBP plans to issue the banknote in 2018. It’s not yet known exactly what the note will look like, the NBP said.
The aim of the new 500-zloty note is to lower costs of issuance and increase effectiveness of monetary management, according to Marek Ole?, the director of the issuance-treasury department at the NBP. The Polish Rulers series was designed by Andrzej Heidrich, and was initiated in 1995.
The Narodowy Bank Polski (National Bank of Poland) has announced on 23 June 2015 that a redesigned 200-zloty banknote will be issued in February 2016. The updated design includes several new security features.
Update 5-2-2016: The new note will be issued on 12 February 2016 according to this press release.
The video below shows the new note in all its glory.
Exciting news from the Mujand Trading Company, the maker of one of the finest series of fantasy banknotes at this moment. A new limited edition polymer note is available and an existing series gets a makeover.
First the very first series A, featuring Early American Writers, gets a limited edition new 5-zilchy note made of polymer. The new back is very stylish and honours the works of Poe.
And second, the existing series C from the Kuninganna Territory gets a complete makeover. The old big white notes which resembeled the old British banknotes were, according to the story on the Mujand website, too big and too naked. Yeah I just love this kind of background story to a fantasy series! So now we get a whole new design which gives me an old Eastern European vibe. Looking forward to seeing the whole newly designed series!
Exciting (and historic) news today from the USA! The US Treasury Department has announced it will redesign the the $10-note as the first note of a new theme and in the process introduce a woman. Alexander Hamilton's face will still be present on the note but it hasn't been made clear how they will practically do this. The possibility of two seperate notes is also on the table (do I hear a possible commemorative issue?).
As most of you are surely aware, there has been much debate lately to place a woman on an US banknote. Most of the discussion involves which woman should get the honour. Less time had been spend on the question which banknote should have its face replaced. The $20 featuring the face of Andrew Jackson was the most likely candidate according to the action group Women on 20's.
However, the competition seems to be wide open again which woman will have her face on the new note, according to the statement on the Treasury Department's site:
The next generation of currency will revolve around the theme of democracy. The first note, the new $10, will feature a notable woman. In keeping with that theme, it’s important that you make your voice heard. Use #TheNew10 to tell us your ideas, symbols, designs or any other feedback that can inform the Secretary as he considers options for the $10 redesign.
"America’s currency is a way for our nation to make a statement about who we are and what we stand for," says Jack Lew, Treasury Secretary. "I’m proud that the new 10 will be the first bill in more than a century to feature the portrait of a woman."
The new note will be revealed in 2020 on the 100th anniversary of the US Constitution’s 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the USA.
The government of Zimbabwe has decided to discard its own currency, the Zimbabwian dollar (ZWD). The currency hasn't been widely used anymore after the country experienced hyperinflation, which hit 500 billion per cent in 2008. Foreign currencies like the US dollar and the South African rand were also accepted in Zimbabwe and much more popular.
From Monday, customers who held Zimbabwean dollar accounts before March 2009 can approach their banks to convert their balance into US dollars, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mangudya, said in a statement. Zimbabweans have until September to turn in their old banknotes.
Bank accounts with balances of up to 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars will be paid $5. Those with balances above 175 quadrillion dollars will be paid at an exchange rate of $1 for 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars.
The Central Bank of Myanmar has announced it will issue an improved version of its 10,000-kyat note. The new bill is the same size, design and color as the old one but has upgraded security features. It will have a new watermark image and a protective layer of varnish on both sides for prolonged circulation life and forgery prevention. The improved note will be issued from 1 July 2015.
According to this article on Daily Business the Bank of Scotland will issue two new polymer notes in the near future. The next 5- and 10-pound notes will be printed on polymer by De la Rue. There will be a special occasion in November 2015 when 50 special one-off notes will be auctioned picturing children's drawings with the proceeds going to BBC Children in Need.
At the end of the year the design for the new circulating 5-pound note will be unveiled (which will be similar to the current paper note) while the issue date will be the second half of 2016. The new note will be 125 x 66 mm in size, slightly smaller than the current 135 x 70 mm 5-pound note. It won't be until 2017 when we see the new 10-pound printed on polymer.
The current paper 5- an 10-pound notes will be gradually withdrawn from circulation.
The Central Bank of Lebanon has plans to issue a new 50,000-livre polymer note at the end of July, banknotenews.com reports. The new note is to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Lebanese army.
The Bank of Papua New Guinea has announced on 21 May 2015 that new 10- and 20-kina notes have been issued. Both notes are commemorative banknotes and have been resized from the original 10- and 20-kina notes.
The K10 banknote has been resized as part of the banknote reform process undertaken by the Bank to standardize the size of Papua New Guinea banknotes. All other features of the banknote such as the colour and all the design elements of the existing new series banknote remain the same, however, the K10 banknote incorporates a special overprint of the XV Pacific Games logo in yellow, red, green, black and blue in colour located above the Parliament House.
K20 Commemorative Banknote
The K20 banknote has been resized as part of the banknote reform process undertaken by the Bank to standardize the size of Papua New Guinea banknotes. All other features of the banknote such as the colour and all the design elements of the existing new series banknote remain the same, however, the K20 banknote incorporates a special overprint of the 40th Anniversary of Papua New Guinea Independence and the National Bird of Paradise image above the Parliament House.
It's been a while but finally we have some news from Canada again. The Bank of Canada has announced that it will issue a new commemrative polymer banknote this year in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II. From the press release:
On 9 September 2015, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning sovereign in Canadian history, exceeding the reign of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.
To mark this historic reign, the Bank of Canada will issue a special commemorative bank note in 2015. The note will be a variation of the existing $20 polymer bank note that already features a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The variation will incorporate a special mention of Her Majesty’s reign.
Circulation and distribution
This commemorative note will be publicly unveiled and issued this fall. It will have the same level of security as all other notes in the Polymer series. More information will be available at that time.
This commemorative bank note will be issued into general circulation and distributed through Canada’s financial institutions.
The Bank is working with financial institutions to ensure that the notes will be available to Canadians across the country. The Bank will issue 40 million commemorative notes. To put this in perspective, there are over 800 million $20 notes in circulation in Canada. The current $20 note will continue to be issued and represent the vast majority of $20s in circulation for the life of the Polymer series.
The Maldives Monetary Authority announced a new commemorative banknote early this year. The new note would be issued at the end of July. My prediction was 26 July because of the anniversary of the Independence of the Maldives (26 July 1965).
According to a press release from De la Rue they also plan to introduce a whole new series of banknotes which will be printed on Safeguard polymer. "The Maldives Monetary Authority has selected Safeguard for the first entirely new series of banknotes to be issued in Maldives for over 30 years. The MMA held a design competition to select a local artist to work alongside De La Rue’s banknote designers in the realisation of these new notes. Abdullah Nashaath was the winning artist, selected from a large number of high standard entries and his involvement will ensure that the new family, called Randhihafaheh, has an authentically Maldivian look.
The first denomination to be launched will be a commemorative 5,000 Rufiyaa at the end of July followed by the circulating denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 from October onwards. The existing 5 Rufiyaa will be converted to coin and the 1,000 Rufiyaa is a new high value at the top of the denominational scale."
Previously Safeguard has been used as the material for two commemorative notes from Lebanon and Gambia. This is the first time a whole series is being produced on Safeguard.
The results are in for the IBNS Banknote of the Year 2014 competition and the winner is.... NOT Kazachstan! Sorry, that was too easy. The actual winner is, also not very surprising, the new 50-dollar note from Trinidad and Tobago.
This year I came really close to nominating the winner because my nomination, the 5,000-francs note from the French Pacific Territories was awarded the second place. Third place went to the new 10-dinar banknote from Kuwait.
Below is the whole top 3 for your viewing pleasure:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has started the development of a new series of banknotes according to this interesting article in the South China Morning Post. The preparation for the new series will be finished in two to three years.
"We have just started to prepare for the launch of a new series of banknote," [Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam] said at the printing plant. "We expect the whole preparation process may need two to three years as we need time to search for and buy the most advanced security features for the banknotes, while the three note-issuing banks would also need time for their designers to do the design.
The Hong Kong government issues the city's HK$10 banknotes and allows the three note-issuing banks - HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong) - to appoint their own designers for banknotes denominated from HK$20 to HK$1,000."
The National Bank of Cambodia has issued a new commemorative banknote of 10,000 riels. The new note has been issued to commemorate the 62nd birthday of King Norodom Sihamoni who is depicted on the front of the note. The back of the shows Neak Pean ("Entwined Serpents"), the archeological ruins of a Buddhist temple on an island in Preah Khan Baray, Angkor together with a statue of a horse located at the temple called Balaha.
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 Central Bank of Syria has issued a new 1,000-pound note on 30 June 2015. Maybe rather surprisingly the new note doesn't have a picture of the current (Bahsar Assad) or former president (Hafez Assad) on it but rather an image of an ancient Roman theater in the southern Daraa province. 
Even more news from Poland. In the same press conference where the updated 
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It's been a while but finally we have some news from Canada again. The 
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