At 15.00 today and on Thursday, Eesti Pank is hosting a free seminar in the museum of the central bank for businesses to get to see the design and the security features of the new fifty-euro note that will enter into circulation at the start of April. So that the new fifty-euro note can enter smoothly into circulation, it is important for companies to be familiar with it and to update their cash handling equipment in good time.

The fifty-euro note with new security features will enter into circulation from 4 April.

The seminar will be led by Meelis Metus, a cash expert from Eesti Pank, who will talk about the design of the fifty-euro note and its main security features. The new banknote has more effective security features, which are also used for the newer five, ten and twenty-euro notes, with a portrait hologram, portrait watermark, raised printing, and an emerald green number. The fifty-euro note also has a new security feature that was introduced for the twenty-euro note, a transparent portrait window. All participants in the training seminar will be able to see the new fifty-euro note for themselves.

The seminar will also explain how to identify real money, how to recognise counterfeits, and what sort of counterfeits are the most common.

The first training seminars for merchants and companies that regularly handle cash in their day-to-day business was held in Võru at the end of February, and the next will be in Rakvere on 13 March, Tartu and Jõgeva on 16 March, Pärnu and Haapsalu on 21 March, and in Narva in Russian on 29 March. Details of the training events and registration information can be found in Estonian on the Eesti Pank website.

The seminars are free, and printed materials will be distributed during them.

Further information

• The first series of fifty-euro notes, which are currently in circulation, will continue to be valid. This means they do not need to be exchanged as they can be used in the future for paying in shops and elsewhere. The same was true when the new five, ten and twenty notes were introduced.

• When the new fifty-euro notes are introduced into circulation from 4 April, it will be done gradually. This means that the earlier banknotes of the first series will be i use at the same time as the new second-series notes. The same happened with the five, ten and twenty-euro notes, which are in use in banks, shops, cash machines and elsewhere with both the new and old designs.

• All the banknotes of the first series will keep their value indefinitely, though at some point it will no longer be possible to use them for paying in shops. When this point has been decided on, it will be announced and publicised well in advance. After this point, it will only be possible to exchange the old notes for new ones at Eesti Pank and other central banks of the euro area, and there will be no limit on how long this can be done for.
• Anyone can learn how to identify the new fifty-euro notes using the simple method of feel, look and tilt. It is always best to check multiple security features on a note, not just look at only one.

• The fifty-euro notes of the second series have new and additional security features that are like those on the five, ten and twenty-euro notes. All of the designs have a series of short raised lines on the edges of the note, a portrait watermark, a portrait hologram, and an emerald green number. The twenty and fifty-euro notes of the second series also have a portrait window. The window is a transparent part of the note, but the front and reverse sides of the window are slightly different. The window in the hologram seen from the front shows a portrait of Europa, and when the note is tilted, the value of the note appears in the window and rainbow-coloured lines appear around it. On the back of the banknote, rainbow-coloured value numerals appear in the window.

• Pictures and videos of the new €50 note can be found at http://www.new-euro-banknotes.eu/.

• The European Central Bank has published a list of devices that can authenticate banknotes of the new series on its website and has added a list of those that can authenticate the €50 note (http://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/cashprof/cashhand/devices/html/results.en.html).

Additional information:
Ingrid Mitt
Public Relations Office
Tel: 668 0965
Email: [email protected]
Press enquiries: [email protected]