THE new-style €50 note is now in circulation and has hit the shops and banks in Spain, but the 'old' version will still be issued while stocks last, according to the Central European Bank (BCE).
Along with the new €5, €10 and €20 notes which have gradually come into being over the past few years, the latest edition of the €50 includes better anti-forgery features, such as a clear plastic window with a hologram of the goddess Europa visible on either face, which becomes transparent against the light.
It also, like the other three, includes the number of its denomination in emerald-green, which turns blue when the note is tipped slightly.
The new euro banknotes have been brought in over time to make it harder to produce counterfeit cash, although a side issue is that of the countries which joined the European Union after it expanded in 2002, features of which are now incorporated into the design.
They include the word 'Euro' written in cyrillic and in Greek, and the BCE's initials reflecting how these are referred to in nine different languages, as opposed to five as they were on the old notes.
The map on the reverse side shows all the member States, including those which joined since 2002.
It is not expected that a future version slicing off the UK will be brought out, particularly as Britain does not use the common currency.
The creator of the Eurozone's 17-billion-plus banknotes in their new format is German graphic designer Reinhold Gerstetter.
Future 'new' notes will be the green €100 and yellow €200 versions, although these are rarely seen these days in Spain due to difficulties in changing them in shops and petrol stations.
The €500 note will not come out in the new style, since the BCE announced last May that it would stop minting them as they have limited practical use, but are frequently the subject of large-scale tax evasion.
As yet, none of the old-style notes have ceased to be legal tender, and the BCE says it may or may not decide to invalidate them 'in the long-term future', but giving plenty of warning so individuals and companies can change them.
The €50 note is the most-used in the Eurozone, with over 8.5 billion of them in circulation – about 45% of all euro notes, ahead of the €20 with just under 3.4 billion, and the €10 and €100 with around 2.2 billion each.
This may not be the case by individual countries, however – in member States with much higher prices and living costs, larger-denomination notes will typically be used, whilst in countries with lower wages and cheaper goods and services, €50 buys a great deal more and are less likely to be used.
