Banknotes

According to a Bank of England press release dated 8 March 2010, the 20-pound (US$30.10) note with the portrait of composer Sir Edward Elgar on back will cease to be legal tender after 30 June 2010. “This note has been gradually replaced by the Adam Smith £20 which was introduced in 2007. Announcing this today, the Bank of England assured holders of the Elgar £20 banknote that they could certainly use the notes up to, and including, 30 June. After that date the note will no longer have ‘legal tender’ status. The note will not have to be accepted in payment, or in change, in retail outlets after this date.”

“For several months from the end of June banks, building societies and Post Offices will accept Elgar £20 notes for deposit to customer accounts and for other customer transactions. Agreeing to exchange the notes for non-customers is at the discretion of the individual institution. The Bank of England will always give value for these notes (and all other banknotes the Bank has issued).”

“Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England’s Chief Cashier, said, ‘The Elgar £20 banknotes were first introduced in 1999 and we introduced the Adam Smith £20 banknotes three years ago. We said at the time that the two designs would circulate in tandem, with the Elgar notes gradually being withdrawn over the next few years. It is time now to withdraw the Elgar £20 notes completely, with the Adam Smith £20 banknotes to be the only £20 note design continuing in circulation.’”

Courtesy of Aidan Work.

1 ringgit (US$0.30), no date. Like P39, but 3-character prefix. Serial number remains 7-digits long with signature of Zeti Akhtar Aziz. Introduced February 2010.

Courtesy of Vincent Tan.

Korea, North 100 Won 1992
Front: Kim Il-sung
Back: Kim Il Sung’s birthplace in Mangyongdae-guyok

Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a Korean communist politician who led North Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the General Secretary of the Workers Party of Korea.

During his tenure as leader of North Korea, he ruled the nation with autocratic power and established an all-pervasive cult of personality. From the mid-1960s, he promoted his self-developed Juche variant of communist national organisation. Following his death in 1994, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. North Korea officially refers to Kim Il-sung as the “Great Leader” (Suryong in Korean) and he is designated in the constitution as the country’s “Eternal President”. His birthday is a public holiday in North Korea. Read more

According to a media advisory dated 5 March 2010, “The new design for the $100 note will make its debut on Wednesday, April 21 during a ceremony at the Department of the Treasury’s Cash Room. The U.S. government redesigns currency in order to stay ahead of counterfeiters and protect the public. Decisions about the redesign of each denomination are guided by the government’s close evaluation of the range of ongoing counterfeit threats, whether from digital technology or traditional printing presses.”

“The unveiling of the $100 note is the first step in a global multi-government agency public education program implemented by the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Secret Service, to educate those who use the $100 note about its changes before it begins circulating. The $100 note is the highest value denomination of U.S. currency in general circulation, and it circulates broadly around the world. Public education is an important component of the government’s redesigned currency program because a well informed public is our first and best line of defense against counterfeiting. Free training materials for cash-handlers as well as other public education resources will be available in 25 languages at www.newmoney.gov beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT on April 21.”

Courtesy of Alan Moe.

I am working on a new catalog of world notes and I need all the help I can get. If you have any of the notes listed below, please email 300-dpi, 100% actual size, 24-bit color scans of the front and back of these notes, saved as uncompressed JPEG, BMP, or TIFF. Please download and follow these detailed scanning instructions.

I am looking for 300-dpi images of the following banknotes of Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Pick 31-32

Pick 47A

Pick 47B

As a contributor, you will receive the satisfaction of taking part in creating something of excellence, your note will be immortalized as the plate note for the catalog, plus your name will appear in the Acknowledgements along with your email address or URL, if you wish.

Thanks in advance for everyone’s cooperation!

According to an article in The Globe and Mail dated 4 March 2010, Canada has announced that beginning in late 2011 it intends to replace paper-cotton banknotes with polymer notes which are reported to last “two to three times longer. The changes are intended save on the cost of printing bills – and create a currency that’s much harder to counterfeit.” Canada will rely upon Austarlia’s Securency as the sole supplier for the polymer substrate. Though there is no mention of who will print the notes, it will probably continue to be Bank of Canada and Canadian Bank Note Company. Furthermore, it appears the 10- and 20-dollar denominations will be the first to be printed on polymer.

Courtesy of Dharshan Mahalingam and Mark Allen.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon introduce a 20-rupee (US$0.40) banknote without inset letter bearing the signature of Dr D Subbarao, Governor. Except for the change in the inset letter, the design of these notes to be issued now is similar in all respects to the banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2005, with additional/new security features issued on 16 August 2006. All 20-rupee notes issued by the RBI in the past will continue to be legal tender.

Additional information and images are requested.

In a press release dated 3 March 2010, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indefinitely extended the terminal date for the circulation of the existing 5-, 10-, and 50-naira paper banknotes as legal tender, allowing them to circulate in parallel with polymer notes of the same denominations. “The Bank also wishes to reassure Nigerians that the N50 polymer banknotes, whether with 6-digits or 7-digits serial numbers were issued by the CBN and therefore genuine banknotes. The numbers on the notes are consistent with the numbering system adopted by the Bank. Both sets of banknotes are fortified with adequate security features which make counterfeiting difficult.”

The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) is reminding citizens in possession of 5-convertible marka (US$3.50) notes that they have until 31 March 2010 to exchange them at commercial banks. The note ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2009 and as such are no longer accepted in circulation for settlement of any type of liabilities. A coin of the same denomination remains in circulation.

On 25 February 2010, North Carolina’s Republican Representative Patrick McHenry introduced The President Ronald Reagan $50 Bill Act, numbered H.R. 4705, which proposes replacing the portrait of the 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant, with that of the 40th president, Ronald Reagan. “Every generation needs its own heroes. One decade into the 21st century, it’s time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy,” said Congressman McHenry. “President Reagan was a modern day statesman, whose presidency transformed our nation’s political and economic thinking.”