European countries in the Euro Zone will be seeing a raft of new banknotes by 2024, according to a plan announced this week by Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, which issues the currency.
While some have speculated that someday Euros could go all digital, that's not what's going on here, she said. “Euro banknotes are here to stay. They are a tangible and visible symbol that we stand together in Europe, particularly in times of crisis, and there is still a strong demand for them. After 20 years, it’s time to review the look of our banknotes to make them more relatable to Europeans of all ages and backgrounds.”
To achieve that goal, the ECB has set up a commission of 19 experts in fields from art and design to science and literature, one from each Euro-zone country, to start by choosing themes for the currency, replacing the current themes of windows, doorways and bridges.
Once the advisory panel selects themes, there will be a design competition for the actual notes. The final choices will be made by the Governing Council of the Bank, which normally handles issues like interest rates and loan requirements.
The new notes, like the old, will be issued in six denominations, from €5 to €200. While there are still around €1 billion worth of €500 notes in circulation, the bank stopped issuing them in 2019; they had become widely known for being used mainly by drug dealers and others to hide large transactions.
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