The National Reserve Bank of Tonga is launching an upgraded family of six banknotes that have been printed by De La Rue. The notes bear the portrait of the new King and are issued to mark the coronation of His Majesty King Tupou VI.
Monday 29 June 2015: the National Reserve Bank of Tonga is today launching an upgraded family of banknotes into circulation. The 6 denominations are similar to the existing notes in circulation but bear the portrait of His Majesty King Tupou VI which replaces that of his late Brother King Tupou V.
The 6 denominations – 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pa’anga – have similar security features to the existing notes, with De La Rue’s award winning Optiks™ security thread on the 2 top value 50 and 100 pa’anga and colour changing StarChrome® on the lower denominations. The new and old notes will co-circulate for a period of time until the older notes are withdrawn from circulation at the end of the year.
Commenting on the announcement, Governor of the National Reserve Bank Dr Sione Ngongo Kioa said "We are proud that the upgraded banknotes bear a portrait of our new King Tupou VI and wish to thank De La Rue for their assistance in bringing these new banknotes to launch".
Ruth Euling, De La Rue’s Global Sales Account Director said "Our relationship with Tonga dates back to 1921 and we are therefore honoured to have continued to work with this valued customer on this upgraded family of banknotes".
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will not affect the rate of inflation but that it will simply replace 70 billion worn-out banknotes that are being withdrawn.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.
Just recently I wrote about the limited edition 5-zilchy note from the Mujand Trading Company honouring the works of Edgar Allen Poe. This week I received the polymer beauty and it is gorgeous. Read more about it here and you can order one for yourself here.
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.
There is quite a discussion going on right now in the USA about the design of the US dollars. In particular the lack of women on the notes. I already wrote about this issue in 2014 and the poll which was announced by the action group Women on 20's has been won by abolitionist and humanitarian Harriet Tubman (c.1822-1913).
This discussion prompted David Pearl from the Metric Pioneer to make this summary of US banknotes which already had women on it. Mostly allegorical but also some famous women like Martha Washington. The reason why I'm posting this is of course for the sheer beauty of the old US notes. Please let them do something like this again, with women or without them.
On the member forum of the IBNS website, I found a link to a great interview with Ootje Oxenaar, the designer of one of the most beautiful banknote series the Netherlands has ever seen. It provides some insight in the development of a new banknote series as well as great anecdotes on specific notes. Like the 1000-gulden note shown here in which Oxenaar hid a etching of his own fingerprint... from his middle finger .
You can also check this video in which he talks about designing the Dutch banknotes.
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.
The Bank of England has asked the public to nominate who they would like to feature on the back of the future £20 note. This new banknote will be issued in 3-5 years, probably made of polymer and it will celebrate Britain’s achievements in the visual arts.
Visual artists include architects, artists, ceramicists, craftspeople, designers, fashion designers, filmmakers, photographers, printmakers and sculptors. The Bank will not feature fictional or living characters, with the exception of the Monarch, who appears on the front of our notes.
Hello, I'm Steven Bron and welcome to my blog on banknotes! Here you can find: breaking news, background articles and of course my personal collection (world notes or at least one from each country, commemorative notes and polymer notes).
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