Banknotes

Denominations

Euro banknotes exist in seven different denominations: €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500. They are legal tender throughout the euro area. They feature architectural styles from different periods in Europe's history.

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Design elements

On the front, the banknotes show windows and gateways. They symbolise the European spirit of openness and cooperation. The 12 stars of the European Union (EU) represent the dynamism and harmony of contemporary Europe. The bridges on the back symbolise communication between the people of Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world.

The windows, gateways and bridges shown on the banknotes are stylised illustrations, not images of, or from, actual constructions.

Other design elements are:

• the name of the currency - euro - in both the Latin (EURO) and the Greek (EYPΩ) alphabets;
• the initials of the European Central Bank in five linguistic variants - BCE, ECB, EZB, EKT and EKP - covering the 11 official languages (in 2002) of the EU;
• the symbol © indicating copyright protection; and
• the EU flag.

The design competition in 1996 for the first series of euro banknotes.

Signatures

The banknotes bear the signature of Willem F. Duisenberg, the first President of the European Central Bank, or of Jean-Claude Trichet, who succeeded him on 1 November 2003. Banknotes with one signature or the other are equally valid.

Map of Europe

The banknotes show a geographical representation of Europe. It excludes islands of less than 400 square kilometres because high-volume offset printing does not permit the accurate reproduction of small design elements.

The tiny boxes near the bottom of the banknote show the Canary Islands and some overseas territories of France where the euro is also used.



Country codes

The central bank that commissioned the printing of a banknote (but not necessarily the country of printing) is indicated by a letter or country code preceding the serial number, as shown here:

This particular banknote, bearing the letter 'S', was printed for the Banca d'Italia. The country codes are listed below.

Country codes
(1) Uncirculated euro banknotes issued by the Banque centrale du Luxembourg bear the code of the central banks of the countries where the banknotes for Luxembourg are produced.
Belgium	Z
Germany	X
Ireland	T
Greece	Y
Spain	V
France	U
Italy	S
Cyprus	G
Luxembourg	( 1 )
Malta	F
Netherlands	P
Austria	N
Portugal	M
Slovenia	H
Slovakia	E
Finland	L

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