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Lithuania to Become 19th Eurozone Country Since 1 January
On 23 July 2014, the EU Council approved Lithuania's application to enter the eurozone on 1 January 2015. The Lithuanian Lita (LTL) will be exchanged for EUR at the fixed rate of LTL 3,45280 per €1. LTL and EUR will be in parallel circulation for 2 weeks (1-14 January 2015) after which (since 16 January) LTL will cease being legal tender. LTL notes/coins will be exchangable at 330 post offices and some Lithuanian banks till 1 March 2015 at the official rate and without any fee.... Read more
Less Cash in Russia
According to CBR, in H1 2014, cash in circulation was valued 6.3% (almost RUB 523B) less. Now circulating Russian cash numbers 5.91B notes and 58.64B coins worth total RUB 7,792.2B. Notes occupy 99% of total Russian cash volume and only 9% in total monetary unit number. The largest share in total circulating note value (69%) is the highest denom, 25% is the RUB 1,000 note. RUB 5/10/50 notes account for 0.5-%. The RUB 1,000 note is biggest in... Read more
1st UK Polymer Note
Next year, UK have have its first polymer notes. Clydesdale Bank, one of the 3 Scotch commercial banks entitled for note issuance, will issue 2M GBP 5 notes next March. This will be followed by the Bank of England printing the same polymer denoms. The note will feature the Forth Bridge - one of the world's first cantilevel bridges, marking its 125 years in 2015. Besides, next year, the bridge will be nominated for a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 1st Scotch polymer note will feature a portrait... Read more
CBR Publishes Thematic Commemorative Coin List for 70th Anniversary of V-Day
CBR has released a complete list of commemorative coins of the series "70th Anniversary of Victory in 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War" to be minted in 2014-2015. These RUB 5 coins made of plated steel will enter circulation by next year and feature key War battles: Battle of Moscow Battle of Stalingrad Battle of Caucasus Battle of Kursk Battle of Dnieper Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive Battle of Leningrad Operation 'Bagration'... Read more
CBR Promise to Issue Crimean Banknote
Georgy Luntovsky, 1st Deputy CBR Governor, said the bank plans to issue a commemorative note on Crimea's annexion. According to him, the note will be from the existing denom range. On the sidelines of the XXIII International Banking Congress, he admitted the likelihood of CBR issuing it this year. There'll be a tender for the new note design. As Luntovsky stressed, Russia will have no RUB 10,000 note in circulation in the near future. In mid-June, CBR Governor Elvira Nabiullina was... Read more
Singapore to Withdraw Highest Denom
On 2 July, Ong Chong Tee, Deputy Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), announced, at the Financial Crime Seminar by the Association of Banks in Singapore, the 10,000 Singapore Dollar as the highest denom will no longer be produced since 1 October 2014. This resolution comes from MAS efforts to mitigate money laundering risks. As of now, this note is one of the costliest on earth with the par at about $8,000, making it very attractive for financial fraudsters.... Read more
Spain to Mint Redesigned Coins
On 19 June, after the abdication of King Juan Carlos I who had ruled the country since 1975, Spain's throne went over to his son, Felipe VI. To commemorate this event, the Royal Mint of Spain is designing circulatory € coins with the new sovereign's portrait to be issued next year. No exact date for the new coin series release has been specified... Read more
RUB Redesign
On 16 June 2014, the CBR Press Office announced a release of RUB 1 coin "Ruble Symbol" under an issuance program. The new circulatory coin was minted in 100m pcs. Technically, the coin is identical to the currently circulating RUB 1 coin of 1997 (2009 mod). The coin was redesigned: the reverse center features a relief ruble symbol, inscription "РУБЛЬ", and a styled floret as a curved branch with interwoven stalks. The coin is legal tender in Russia along with the 1997 coin and must... Read more
US Visually Impaired to Get Dollar Authenticator
BEP have developed iBill, a device to help the visually impaired and blind authenticate and identify banknotes. From 2015 on, it'll be freely distributed among US citizens with eyesight problems. The program's cost is estimated at $15M. To date, US banknotes have no special marks for easier banknote usage by the visually impaired. This fact even led to a lawsuit by the American Foundation for the Blind against the Treasury. Then BEP promised to introduce special marks on new banknote... Read more
Hryvnia Becomes FX in Crimea
Since 1 June 2014, the Hryvnia is no longer legal tender in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. The Ruble and Hryvnia were earlier due for parallel circulation till 1 January 2016. Crimeans could exchange cash from the Hryvnia to the Russian Ruble till 1 June at the official rate, afterwards the Hryvnia is exchanged at a rate set by commericial banks operating in Crimea. To help Crimeans study the new official currency and protect them from counterfeiters, CBR are running an... Read more
Hryvnia Signed by New NBU Governor
The National Bank of Ukraine decided to issue banknotes with the signature of its new Governor Stepan Ivanovich Kubiv. The 100 Hryvnia issuance was launched on 1 June. UAH 50 with changed details will be in circulation since 1 August, UAH 500 since 1 September, and UAH 200 since 1 October 2014. According to NBU, they mean scheduled issuance to replace unfit notes withdrawn from circulation. The design and security features of the new notes will remain... Read more
$1 Changing Details
This April, US cash circulation saw first 2013 $1 banknotes signed by the new Treasurer, Jacob Lew, and printed with SOI machines by KBA Giori Inc. The new printing equipment features high output (~10,000 sheets an hour) and 50 banknotes on a printed paper sheet, while older I-10 machines for US note production use paper with 32 banknotes on. Banknotes printed with the old machines form 4 columns and 8 rows on a sheet, divided into 4 quadrants. Each note's location on a sheet is... Read more
5,000 Yens for Visually Impaired
On 12 May 2014, the Bank of Japan reissued the ¥5,000 banknote with redesigned tactile features for easier note usage by the visually impaired. According to the bank's press release, the main difference of the new note from the old-design note (2004) is the design of the transparent film coating the hologram in the lower left corner on the face. It's turned 1.7 times bigger, also from ellipsoid to rectangular. By touch, the transparent film differs from other note surface areas. Now by... Read more
CBR to Issue Commemorative VE Day Coins
The Central Bank of Russia is officially going to issue in 2014-2015 commemorative coins of the base metal series "70th Anniversary of Soviet People's Victory in Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945". The series will consist of 21 coins: 18 RUB 5 coins to be minted later this year and 3 RUB 10 coins to be issued in H1 2015. The mintage of each RUB 5 coin will be 2m pcs., with RUB 10 in 5m pcs. The coins will have standard commemorative circulatory coin characteristics. The RUB 5 coin will be minted... Read more
Stolen Francs Enter Circulation
In October 2012, Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) informed Swiss authorities of detecting suspicious 1,000-franc banknotes in a London exchange office. The notes were found to have missed cyclical turnaround and been stolen from the Orell Füssli printing plant in Zurich. As investigated by the General Prosecutor's Office of Switzerland, there were about 1,800 stolen notes causing $2m damage. According to the bank's info, absent serial number may be a sign of stolen notes.... Read more