The new version of the €20 note will be a more colourful and decorative version, featuring a hologram portrait-window with the picture of a mythological European figure, and also changes colour depending on the viewing angle, from emerald-green to dark blue.
Last month leaflets on the new €20 were sent to some three million euro-area points of sale.
The new €20 banknote was unveiled in February at the European Central Bank’s (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt.
The ECB’s President Mario Draghi said the new note includes an innovative security feature in the form of a “portrait window” set in the hologram. When the banknote is held against the light, the window becomes transparent and reveals a portrait of the mythological figure Europa, visible on both sides of the note.
The new €20 banknote, like the new €5 and €10 notes, also includes an “emerald number” and a portrait of Europa in the watermark.
President Draghi said: “The portrait window is a real innovation in banknote technology. It is the outcome of the Eurosystem’s work to ensure that the euro notes continue to be resilient against counterfeiting. This will reinforce the trust that the 338 million citizens across the euro area place in their banknotes.”
The new €20 note is the third in the Europa series that is gradually replacing the original series of euro banknotes introduced in 2002. The Europa series €5 banknote was issued in May 2013, and the €10 note in September 2014. According to the ECB the €20 banknote that comes into circulation next week will be followed, over time, by new versions of the €50, €100, €200 and €500 notes.
The €20 note is one of the most widely used of all the euro banknote denominations.
It is widely distributed via ATMs, it is accepted by many vending and ticketing machines, and it is often checked for authenticity by retailers using small devices at their counters.
The old €20 will not lose its value and will remain in circulation; therefore they do not need to be exchanged.