The European Central Bank is gradually phasing in a brand new series of banknotes. The new five-euro notes were submitted to the public consideration and launched into circulation last May. The ECB made a presentation of the updated banknote in the denomination of 10 euros which will start circulating in September 2014. The bigger denomination notes - 20 euro, 50 euro, 100 euro, 200 euro, and 500 euro - will follow later. The newly designed banknotes will be code-named “Europe” as they all will have the Greek mythological image of Europa. The ancient heroine from which Europe takes its name will be featured in the hologram and watermark of the new notes. In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician princess abducted by the god Zeus. There is a portrait of a girl on the bills that was copied from an ancient vessel for wine storage which is exhibited in Louvre. Other security features include a security thread and an emerald number in the bottom left hand corner. The updated banknote, while tilted, will change the shade from emerald-green to dark blue. Besides, the new money design prepared a nice surprise for Russian speaking users of the single European currency; new 5-euro and 10-euro banknotes will bear the caption EURO by Cyrillic characters.
As for the deadlines when the old series bills are expected to be withdrawn from circulation, they will be determined a bit later. In any case, the old banknotes will not lose value and banks in the EU countries must exchange them at any time upon request. The updated bills are to replace the original design in use since the euro became a physical currency in January 1, 2002. Nowadays, it is the official payment instrument in 18 European countries which are inhabited by 334 million people. Since January 1, 2014 Latvia joined the euro bloc as well.
