TICKETS
GENERAL
Presentation
General
For the first time in the history of paper numismatics, collectors can find out (almost) everything about a banknote: not only its printer and the plate to which it belongs, but also its position on the sheet on which it was issued!
Will collectors one day be able to reconstitute complete sheets, as philatelists do with classic stamps, which are sufficiently well known that the position of each stamp in the sheet can be identified?
Certainly, since there are some for stamps...
PRESENTATION OF THE FIRST SERIES - 2002 SERIES
When the euro was introduced on 1 January 2002, the first series of euro banknotes went into circulation. It comprises seven denominations: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros.
The name "euro" appears in both Roman (EURO) and Greek (EYPΩ) characters.
The initials of the European Central Bank appear in five languages "ECB, ECB, EZB, EKT and EKP" (ECB: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian - ECB: English, Danish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Dutch, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Czech - EZB: German - EKT: Greek - EKP: Estonian, Finnish).
2002 series denominations
Following a competition organised in 1996, Robert Kalina's project on the theme of architectural styles was chosen. The bridges, arches and other designs are the product of the designer's imagination, and are a symbolic representation of the links that unite the different peoples of Europe.
Architectural styles 2002 series :
Classical architecture
Greek and Roman
Romanesque architecture
Gothic architecture
Renaissance architecture
Baroque and Rococo architecture
Glass and steel architecture
Modern architecture of the 20th century
2002 series signatures
Each banknote bears the signature of the President of the European Bank at the time of issue. For the 2002 series, three presidents succeeded one another in the following order:
Willem F. Duisenberg
Jean-Claude Trichet
Mario Draghi
2002 series country codes
The country responsible for producing a denomination is indicated by a letter preceding the banknote number on the reverse.
Here, the letter U indicates France
Table of country letters - 2002 Tickets
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Letters
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Countries - 2002 Tickets
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D
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Estonia
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E
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Slovakia
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F
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Malta
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G
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Cyprus
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H
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Slovenia
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L
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Finland
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M
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Portugal
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N
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Austria
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P
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France
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S
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Italy
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T
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Ireland
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U
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France
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V
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Spain
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X
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Germany
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Y
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Greece
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Z
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Belgium
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2002 series country codes
The country responsible for producing a denomination is indicated by a letter preceding the banknote number on the reverse.
Image: close-up of the short code on a 10 euro banknote printed by Giesecke & Devrient (German)
Table of printers' letters - 2002 Tickets
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Letter
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Printer
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|---|---|
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D
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Setec Oy (Finnish private printer)
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E
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F.C. Oberthur (Imprimerie privée française)
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F
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Österreichische Banknoten und Sicherheitsdruck (Austrian Private Printing House)
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G
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Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé (Dutch private printing house)
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H
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De La Rue (English private press)
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J
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Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (Italian National Printing Office)
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K
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Central Bank of Ireland (Irish National Printing Office)
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L
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Banque de France (French National Printing Office)
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M
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Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (Spanish National Printing Office)
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N
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Bank of Greece (Greek National Printing House)
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P
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Giesecke & Devrient (German private printing house)
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R
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Bundesdruckerei (German National Printing House)
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T
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National Bank of Belgium (Belgian private printing house)
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U
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Banco de Portugal (Portuguese private printing house)
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PRESENTATION OF THE SECOND SERIES - EUROPE SERIES
A second series of banknotes was issued in 2013. It was nicknamed "EUROPE" because the banknotes featured a portrait of Princess Europe, a character from Greek mythology. It comprises six denominations: €5, €10, €20, €50, €100 and €200. The 500 euro is no longer printed. The banknotes of the 1st series continue to be legal tender.
The name "euro" appears in Roman (EURO), Greek (EYPΩ) and Cyrillic (EBPO) characters.
The initials of the European Central Bank appear in nine languages "ECB, ECB, EZB, EKT, EKP, ЕЦБ, EKB, BĊE and EBC" (ECB: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian - ECB : English, Danish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Dutch, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Czech - EZB: German - EKT: Greek - EKP: Estonian, Finnish - ЕЦБ: Bulgarian - BĊE: Maltese - EBC: Polish)
Europe series denominations
The new banknotes in the "EUROPE" series are still based on the "architectural styles" theme chosen for the first series, but they have been modified to incorporate the new, improved security features.
Architectural styles in the Europe series:
Classical architecture
Greek and Roman
Romanesque architecture
Gothic architecture
Renaissance architecture
Baroque and Rococo architecture
Glass and steel architecture
Europe series signatures
Each banknote bears the signature of the President of the European Bank at the time of issue. For the Europe series, two presidents have succeeded each other in the following order:
Mario Draghi
Christine Lagarde
Europe" series country codes
The country responsible for producing a denomination is identified by the first letter of the short code and by the letter preceding the banknote number on the reverse.
Image: close-up of the short code on a 5 euro banknote printed by Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (Spanish National Printing House)
Table of letters-Countries- Europe tickets
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Letter
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Printer
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|---|---|
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E
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F.C. Oberthur (France)
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F
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F.C. Oberthur Austria)
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M
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Valora
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N
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Österreichische Banknoten und Sicherheitsdruck GmbH
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P
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Joh. Enschede Security printing BV
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R
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Bundesdruckerei GmbH
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S
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Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (Italy)
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T
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Central Bank of Ireland
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U
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Banque de France
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V
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Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (Spanish National Printing Office)
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W
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Giesecke & Devrient (Leipzig)
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X
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Giesecke & Devrient Munich)
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Y
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Bank of Greece
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Z
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National Bank of Belgium (Belgian private printing house)
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READING KEYS
All €notes manufactured up to 1 November 2003 bear the signature of Dr Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank until that date. The change of President to Jean-Claude Trichet led to a change in the signature on the €notes. The production of banknotes bearing Trichet's signature began shortly after he took office. Issued by the national central banks of the eurozone in the usual way, they are circulating alongside those bearing his predecessor's signature. Both categories of banknotes are, of course, equally valid.
Further exploration of the note reveals a series of letters and numbers of the type L010E1, i.e. one letter, three numbers, one letter, one number.
The first letter indicates the banknote printer. According to our records, the printers are D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T and U.
The three numbers that follow indicate the manufacturing plate used for this banknote. We are at the beginning of the production of euro banknotes and most of the plates are numbered 001, 002... the highest number seen exceeds 050 (€20 France printed by the Banque de France). We list these "production plate numbers seen" in the tables by denomination. The series is sometimes interrupted or does not start at 001. It should be remembered that a large number of printed banknotes are kept unissued to meet unforeseen demand: it is likely that these missing production plates are simply kept in reserve.
The code ends with a letter and a number that indicate the position of the banknote on the sheet on which it was printed. The letter indicates the row in which the banknote is located and the number indicates the column.
This is the name we give to the numbers in the centre of the banknote's short code. For example, on a €5 note "L004F3", "L" is the printer, "F3" is the position of the note on the sheet and "004" indicates that the note comes from the fourth plate. These printing plates are replaced when they are worn or broken: it is therefore impossible to determine the quantities produced with each plate, or their rarity, without access to the archives or extremely meticulous tallying.
New bundles are good subjects for study: the notes are separated by precise multiples of a number. For example, in France, the banknotes in new bundles are separated by nines or multiples of nines.
In each new bundle, all the notes bear not only the same printer and series codes but also the same position number on the sheet, which is logical since several thicknesses of sheet are cut simultaneously.
This term is used to describe the forced movement of a large quantity of banknotes from the same plate between two national banks in different countries in order to make up for a sudden shortage of a certain denomination. Pooling concerns part or all of the production of a plate.
Shortages affecting a particular denomination at regional level will be offset by surplus stocks from another National Central Bank. The strategic stock is only used if unexpected demand for a denomination cannot be met by transfers of surplus logistical stocks.
The list of pooling sites in this section is relatively reliable, as we have established each note when the quantities of notes found were very large and taking into account the proximity of the countries.
We recalculated the size of the sheets by observing the highest letter/number pairs and, for each face, we give the maximum pairs found and the size deduced from each sheet of banknotes, following the "rows x columns" model, the short code being based on this representation.
The Bundesbank sells complete sheets of €5 (6 columns x 10 rows; 74 x 66 cm; marker €540), €10 (6 columns x 9 rows; 75 x 60 cm; marker €900) and €20 (5 columns x 9 rows; 68 x 65 cm; marker €1,470) banknotes with margins in hard cardboard boxes, without specifying the quantity offered for sale.
The Bundesbank's €5 and €10 banknote sheets have therefore escaped the cutting process. Be wary of all the "cut varieties" of German banknotes in these two denominations, as they are almost always sheet cuts made for fraudulent purposes, to fool collectors of counterfeit notes. See the excellent website http://www.billetfaute.com for more details. These "false" varieties, pairs or strips of uncut banknotes actually come from complete sheets. Their price should be considered as a good note to be reimbursed at face value and not as that of an exceptional variety.
We owe it to the Italian Walter Nasi (Catalogo Euro-unificado della carta-moneta italiana, 28th edition, an exceptional work on Italian banknotes, of course, but also a remarkable analysis of the origins of euro banknote designs) to discover not only that specimens of euro banknotes exist but also why they had remained unknown in France: the Banque de France does not produce any.
The specimens - normal banknotes marked SPÉCIMEN in oblique and red - bear S0000000007 type numbers, i.e. with the letter of the issuing country followed by zeros and a serial number. Specimens are numbered on the obverse in four digits and each denomination is issued by a country. These countries are: €5 Spain, €10 Germany, €20 Belgium, €50 Germany, €100 Italy, €200 Netherlands, €500 Italy. It is hard to understand why the Banque de France has not produced a single value, while Germany and Italy have each produced two. There is no doubt that these specimens will remain exceedingly rare among collectors and will one day be the jewels of collections. Walter Nasi quotes a price of €9,000 for a complete set of specimens.
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