Here is a page that lets you compare the current/old €5 note and the updated one (in circulation as from 2 May) side by side: http://www.new-euro-banknotes.eu/Eu...are-both-5-banknotes/Superimpose/(cur_bn)/171 You can grab the vertical divider and move it left or right. Christian
The exhibition "The New Face of the Euro" (which shows the design of the new €5 note, coins and notes from the other countries, and more) was in Frankfurt between mid-January and mid-March, and can now be visited in Madrid. More information is here: Spanish - English. The next stops will be Bratislava (this summer) and Riga (this fall) ... Christian
Right, that is one of the striking differences. Others are the added face of the ancient goddess Europa, and the increased number of "ECB" versions next to the copyright mark. The new notes will also be "heavier" due to an added (extremely thin) lacquer layer: 0.71 g instead of currently 0.63 g. Christian
The new/redesigned ones will be issued on Thursday. I know that, in Coin Talk, "Paper Money" by and large translates to US Paper Money only, but some of you may travel to the euro area this summer, so this may be interesting for them. In the current/old system, the first character of the short code (small, on the obverse) indicates the printing works that makes the note, while the letter in the serial number (large, two times on the reverse) refers to the national central bank that commissions the production. Which NCB is responsible for what denomination in what year can be seen here. With the new notes, both the first character of the short code and the first character of the serial number will now refer to the printer. The structure of the short code will be the same as before (xnnnxn). The "old" serial number had twelve "elements" (letter - ten digits - checksum digit); the new one starts with two letters. That second letter will (AFAIK) simply extend the "numbering system" from 10 to about 20. Also, for design reasons, only the last six digits will be repeated on the left. Christian
These days the exhibition about the updated €5 notes ("The New Face of the Euro") can be visited in Bratislava, Slovakia - until the end of June. Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8-15 h. Address: Národná Banka Slovenska, Imricha Karvaša 1, Bratislava. Here is the NBS press release in English. The new €5 notes have been in circulation for almost a month now. Here is a quick camera photo which shows one of the first I got. (Not great, I know, but scanning them is a problem.) The diagonal lines, on the left and right of the obverse, are raised. Felt a little odd first ... The new notes are not polymer but "paper", and yet they have an extra lacquer layer which supposedly extends the "life span", so they feel a little different if one is used to the old notes. Note that the dot (reverse, upper left corner) and the partly "blocked" serial number is something I added, for bill tracking purposes. Christian
