Starting on Tuesday, the Deutsche Bundesbank will be issuing the new €100 and €200 banknotes. These two large value denominations will round off the issuance of the “Europa” series of notes. “As with all the other notes in the Europa series, both of these largest denominations display two main design features, these being the mythological figure, Europa – whose portrait appears in the watermark and in a hologram – and an emerald number,” commented Johannes Beermann, the Bundesbank Executive Board member responsible for cash management.

The new €100 and €200 banknotes also bear two new security features, namely a “satellite hologram”, which is incorporated into the silvery stripe, and several additional euro symbols within the emerald green number. The satellite hologram shows two small euro symbols “circling” the value numeral like satellites and are only visible when held up to the light. As Mr Beermann explained, “These two security features make the new €100 and €200 notes even more counterfeit-proof”.

Moreover, the new notes are 5 mm narrower than in the past, bringing their size in line with that of the €50 notes. The need to adapt banknote processing systems is thus greater for these two denominations than for other sized notes. Mr Beermann offered reassurance here, adding that “...the manufacturers of ATMs and/or teller cash dispensers have been able to test the new notes on their equipment for the past nine months so the technical migration should run smoothly”.

Starting on 28 May, the Bundesbank and the other Eurosystem national central banks will be issuing the new banknotes to credit institutions, which will then disburse them to their customers via ATMs and at the counter. “Clearly, the €100 and €200 notes from the first series that are currently in circulation will remain legal tender,” Mr Beermann explained.

For the initial run of new banknotes, the Eurosystem commissioned the production of three billion banknotes (2.3 billion €100 notes and 0.7 billion €200 notes). Of this quantity, the Bundesbank commissioned the production of around one billion €100 notes.