Scottish Clydesdale Bank shows new 10-pound note

The Scottish Clydesdale Bank plans to introduce a new 10-pound note made of polymer featuring the image of poet Robert Burns. The back of the note show views of Edinburgh, including the castle. 

The Clydesdale bank introduces around £400m worth of new notes every year and is the largest issuer by volume of notes in Scotland. The new notes will enter circulation in 2017.


Steven Zondag 31 Januari 2016 at 10:50 am | | news | Geen reacties
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Maldives issue new banknote series...

... and the world sang in joy! Because good heavens, these are some nice looking banknotes! The Maldives Monetary Authority has issued the new series today on 26 January 2016 according to this press release. I described the new series in detail in this post so I'll refer you to that post if you want to know more details. 

That gives me more space to just show the front of the new series in all its glory:

Steven Dinsdag 26 Januari 2016 at 10:13 pm | | news | Geen reacties
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Norway shows new banknotes

This week we've seen some excitement in the world of banknote collecting because the Norges Bank 'unveiled' the design for the new banknotes. Yes, again. Because if I recall correctly (and yes I do) I already wrote in this post from 9 October 2014 what the new banknotes of this series would look like. 

"On each obverse side, the designer has placed a signal flag from the maritime alphabet. The flags represent the letters N, O, R, G and E and therefore spell either NORGE or NOREG (not in order by denomination).

The cubic patterns on the reverse side represent pixels and mosaics. The patterns depict the coast, the horizon and the motif. The organic pattern is an abstraction of the sea. Both the cubic and organic patterns follow the Beaufort scale as an expression of wind speed. This affects the waves in the sea. On the lowest denomination note, the wind is light, and there are short cubic forms and long, gentle waves in the organic pattern. On the highest denomination note, the wind is strong and creates elongated rectangular forms and short waves."

So sure, I can show the designs again because they are quite original and really stand out internationally. Do I also like them? Well, I know some people are going absolutely mental over them and call them the future of banknote design. I guess that makes me an old fart because I'm not very impressed. Sure, the pixelated back is very original but also looks like something I could have made myself. And I suck at Photoshop. The front of the notes is more to my liking but is also rather simple and minimalistic.

Perhaps the note will look better in real life and beauty is of course (as always) in the eye of the beholder but I won't be standing in line to get these for my personal collection I think. 

50 kroner

Front: Utvær Lighthouse in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway's westernmost point. Signal flag: Letter R. Back: Pixel motif on the horizon: lighthouse on the horizon. Cubic pattern: 1.6 metres per second. Organic pattern: Light breeze, gentle waves.

100 kroner

Front: The Gokstad ship from the 800s, with the Norwegian-designed X-Bow hull developed by Ulstein Design & Solutions AS in the background. Signal flag: Letter O. Back: Pixel motif on the horizon: Cargo ship. Cubic pattern: 3.4 m/s. Organic pattern: Gentle breeze. Crests begin to break.

200 kroner

Front: Cod and herring. The background drawing shows mesh from a fishing net. Signal flag: Letter N. Back: Pixel motif on the horizon: Fishing boat. Cubic pattern: 8 m/s. Organic pattern: Fresh breeze. Wave heights of 1 m or more.

500 kroner

Front: Colin Archer, boat design. Anders Beer Wilse, photographer. Linn Krogh Hansen, photographer. Signal flag: Letter G. Back: Pixel motif on the horizon: Oil platform. Cubic pattern: 13.9 m/s. Organic pattern: High wind. Sea heaps up, white foam from breaking waves.

1,000 kroner

Front: Motif: Wave in the sea. Signal flag: Letter E. Back: Pixel motif: Horizon. Cubic pattern: 20.8 m/s. Organic pattern: Strong gale. High waves. Dense foam is blown along wind direction.

Steven Dinsdag 26 Januari 2016 at 9:46 pm | | news | Geen reacties
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India issues 500- and 1,000-rupees with new design

The Reserve Bank of India has issued two slightly redesigned banknotes of 500 and 1,000 rupees. Special features to aid visually impaired people have been added to the existing design. On the front at the left and right edge markings have been added.

Also a novel serial number is now in use with numbers in ascending size. 


Steven Zondag 17 Januari 2016 at 10:20 am | | news | Geen reacties
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Argentina: new notes in 2016 and new series in 2017

The National Bank of Argentina has announced that a new family of banknotes will be introduced as a measure to curb the rising inflation in the country. Right now the highest denomination in the country is the 100-pesos note but these are sometimes hard to get because people need so much of them.

That is why new notes of 200-, 500- and 1000-pesos will be introduced. In mid-2016 we will first see the 200- and 500-peso note followed by a 1000-peso note and also newly designed 20-, 50-, 100-peso notes in 2017. The theme of the new notes are no longer hero's from South-America but will be indigineous animals on the front and the habitat they live in at the back.

The notes will have the following images:

  • 20 pesos: Guanaco, Patagonian steppe 
  • 50 pesos: Condor, Andean Region
  • 100 pesos: Taruca, Northwest Region
  • 200 pesos: Southern right whale, Argentine Sea, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands
  • 500 pesos: Jaguar, Northeast region
  • 1,000 pesos: Rufous hornero (national bird), Central region

Right now only the designs of the 200- and 500-peso notes have been publicized but if this is the standard we can expect from the new series I believe we will have a family of notes which is going to be VERY popular with theme collectors. 

Update 2 May 2016: The 500-pesos note will be issued in July 2016 and the 200-pesos note will follow in the fourth quarter of 2016, Telam reports


Steven Zondag 17 Januari 2016 at 09:45 am | | news | Geen reacties
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German emergency issues

First of all, happy New Year to everybody! To start 2016 right, here's an interesting story on the German emergency issues of 1960 and 1963.

One of these notes would be a great addition to my collection but I'm not sure if it's 100% legal to own one after reading the article.

Steven Vrijdag 08 Januari 2016 at 09:44 am | | links | Geen reacties
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