500 euro note

The five hundred euro note (€500) is the highest-value euro banknote and has been used since the introduction of the euro (in its cash form) in 2002. It is one of the highest value circulating banknotes in the world, worth around 560 USD, 3,400 CNY, 67,000 JPY, 520 CHF or 360 GBP. The note is used in the 23 countries which have the euro as their sole currency (with 22 legally adopting it); with a population of about 332 million.

It is the largest note measuring 160 × 82 mm and has a purple colour scheme. The five hundred euro banknotes depict bridges and arches/doorways in modern architecture (around the late 20th century).

The five hundred euro note contains several complex security features such as watermarks, invisible ink, holograms and microprinting that document its authenticity. In October 2011, there were approximately 594,833,600 five hundred euro banknotes in circulation around the eurozone.

History

The euro was founded on 1 January 1999, when it became the currency of over 300 million people in Europe. For the first three years of its existence it was an invisible currency, only used in accountancy. Euro cash was not introduced until 1 January 2002, when it replaced the national banknotes and coins of the countries in eurozone 12, such as the Luxembourgish franc.

100 euro note

The one hundred euro note (€100) is one of the higher value euro banknotes and has been used since the introduction of the euro (in its cash form) in 2002. The note is used daily by some 332 million Europeans and in the 23 countries which have it as their sole currency (with 22 legally adopting it).

It is the third largest note measuring 147 millimetres (5.8 in) × 82 millimetres (3.2 in) and has a green colour scheme. The hundred euro notes depict bridges and arches/doorways in the Baroque and Rococo style (between the 17th and 18th century).

The hundred euro note contains several complex security features such as watermarks, invisible ink, holograms and microprinting that document its authenticity. In May 2012, there were approximately 1,652,287,100 hundred euro banknotes in circulation in the eurozone.

History

The euro was founded on 1 January 1999, when it became the currency of over 300 million people in Europe. For the first three years of its existence it was an invisible currency, only used in accountancy. Euro cash was not introduced until 1 January 2002, when it replaced the national banknotes and coins of the countries in eurozone 12, such as the French franc and the Spanish peseta.

1 euro coin

The 1 euro coin is a euro coin with a value of one euro (€1). It is made of two alloys: the inner part of cupronickel, the outer part of nickel brass. All coins have a common reverse side and country-specific national sides. The coin has been used since 2002, with the present common side design dating from 2007.

As of July 2015, there were approximately 6.7 billion one euro coins in circulation, constituting 26.4% of all circulated euro coins by value and 5.9% by quantity.

History

The coin dates from 2002, when euro coins and banknotes were introduced in the 12 member Eurozone and its related territories. The common side was designed by Luc Luycx, a Belgian artist who won a Europe-wide competition to design the new coins. The design of the one and two euro coins was intended to show the European Union (EU) as a whole with the then 15 countries more closely joined together than on the 10 to 50 cent coins (the 1 to 5 cent coins showed the EU as one, though intending to show its place in the world).