MOSCOW, October 30 (R-Sport) - Special-edition banknotes for next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi were unveiled Wednesday, with 100 days to go until Russia's first Winter Games.
Twenty-million of the blue 100 ruble ($3.13) notes will be produced, with an unusual vertical design depicting a snowboarder and several of the venues in the Sochi Olympic Park.
The note's "vertical composition, which is a response to modern tendencies in banknote design, has made it possible to portray the uniqueness off the natural region, where snowy mountains meet the warm sea," the Olympic organizing committee said in a statement.
It is unclear when the notes, which differ from the regular red 100-ruble notes, will enter general circulation.
Organizers also displayed the design of a 25-ruble commemorative coin for the Olympic torch relay, which depicts the route of the relay around Russia, with the torch superimposed. The 25-ruble denomination is not currently used.
Both the banknotes and coin will be legal tender. There will also be special 50-ruble stamps dedicated to the torch relay.
Back in March, Russian state-owned bank Sberbank started sales of a rectangular coin featuring a polar bear, one of three Sochi OIympic mascots. It has not gone into general distribution.
MANILA - How many peso bank notes and coins are there in the Philippines?
According to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the combined length of the country's banknotes -- if these were connected end to end -- is enough to go nine times around the earth’s equator or nearly the distance of the earth to the moon.
NSCB Secretary-General Jose Ramon G. Albert said the country had 2.32 billion pieces of notes valued at P603.64 billion as of last June.
Laid down end-to-end, the banknotes would run to more than 371.2 thousand kilometers – equivalent to 100 time the length of the Pan-Philippine National Highway, which extends from Laoag City in Ilocos Norte to Zamboanga City in Mindanao.
There are two sets of banknotes issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and in use today: the New Design Series (NDS) and the New Generation Currency (NGC). The NDS has been in use for more than a quarter of a century while the NGC has been in use starting December 2010.
To thwart counterfeiters, the NGC features improved security features which include embossed prints, security fibers, watermark, see-through mark, and others.
The NGC shall eventually replace the NDS once the latter is demonetized. In the meantime, both are legal tender.
Apart from banknotes, the Philippines had 20.08 billion pieces of coins in circulation worth a combined P22.77 billion as of June this year.
More than half or 56.6 percent of these are lower denominated coins. Coins in circulation are the following: one centavo, five centavos, 10 centavos, 25 centavos, one peso, five pesos and 10 pesos.
Citing BSP estimates, Albert said the number of coins is equivalent to 207 pieces of coins per Filipino.
But, is there a shortage of coins?
"Believe it or not, the Philippines does not have a shortage of coins," Albert said.
"The BSP explains that occasionally, there is an artificial shortage of coins due to the habit of people of keeping coins in wallets, drawers and piggy banks instead of using them as payment for goods and services, or depositing them in banks," he said.
In the case of one-peso coins, there is high demand because of the popularity of "coin games," which interfere in the circulation of coins throughout the economy, Albert said.
In the past, the BSP and the Bureau of Customs recorded attempts to smuggle out one-peso coins and in some cases, they are hoarded for melting and export, Albert said.
As per Republic Act No. 7653, otherwise known as the New Central Bank Act, the BSP has the sole power and authority to issue currency within the Philippine territory. The BSP not only issues Philippine peso banknotes and coins for general circulation but also commemorative notes and coins which are legal tender as well.
The Central Bank of Iceland launched Iceland’s new 10,000 kr. banknote yesterday, Thursday 24 October 2013. The purpose of the issue is to facilitate and streamline payment intermediation in Iceland, in part by reducing the number of banknotes in circulation.
At the end of September, there were 13.9 million banknotes in circulation, including 7.1 million 5,000 kr. notes. 10.000 Icelandic krona amounts to approximately 61 EUR.
The new banknote is dedicated to poet Jónas Hallgrímsson and features a number of references to Jónas and his work. The banknote is similar in appearance to those already in circulation and will incorporate a greater number of new, more advanced security features. The background colour of the note is blue. The note was designed by Kristín Þorkelsdóttir and Stephen A. Fairbairn.
The security features of the new 10,000 kr. note are largely the same as those on other Icelandic banknotes. The main difference is that in place of the security thread and metal foil is a new security feature called Optiks. Optiks is an 18-mm wide thread with a see-through window. The Optiks thread is actually multi-dimensional, as it incorporates several different security features. Information on Optiks and other security features of the 10,000 kr. banknote can be found on the Central Bank of Iceland website.
A conventional feature for the blind can be found on the note, in the form of four raised horizontal lines on the obverse. The Optiks feature can be used as an identifier for the blind. The 10,000 kr. note is 70 x 162 mm in size and is therefore 7 mm longer than the 5,000 kr. note, helping users to distinguish between the two.
The new notes were printed by De La Rue Plc. in the UK. De La Rue and its predecessors have handled banknote printing for Iceland for 83 years. Four million banknotes were printed at a purchase price of 29 kr. each, whereas two 5,000 kr. notes would have cost 36 kr. (18 kr. each). In this context, it should be noted that the security features of the new banknotes, including the Optiks feature, are more expensive.
In 2012, withdrawals from automatic teller machines (ATM) in Iceland totalled 55 b.kr. At present, the average ATM withdrawal amount is 10,300 kr. The 10,000 kr. banknote will become available at ATMs soon, but it is not yet certain in how many ATMs to begin with. It will be available at bank branches, however.
Informational material on the 10,000 kr. banknote, including photographs, graphics, and a more detailed description of the security features, can be found on the Central Bank of Iceland website,
Kenya is planning new coins and bank notes that for the first time since independence will not depict its current or past leaders.
The new currency will comply with Article 231(4) of the 2010 Constitution mandating that coins and bank notes issued by the central bank may depict symbols of any aspect of Kenya, but may not depict any individual’s portrait.
This should be a simple matter of making and issuing new coins and notes, but in Kenya things won’t be that simple. The new bank notes are likely to be printed through a joint venture with the security printing company De La Rue as was recommended by Kenya’s Public Accounts Committee. The recommendation would involve the government acquiring 40 percent of the British subsidiary company based in Ruyaraka, Nairobi. The problem is that Kenya does not want to tie the Central Bank of Kenya to the exclusive 10-year currency printing commitment being demanded by De La Rue in exchange for the agreement. The joint venture has been projected to cost Kenya 655 million shilling (about $7.48 million US).
Members of Kenya’s parliament have confirmed the joint venture will not guarantee the bank would receive a fair market price for the work to be performed. There are also questions regarding if the Ruyaraka facility has the capacity required to produce the needed currency for the change in Kenya’s currency.
Another matter yet to be properly addressed is the 10-shilling coins that are planned to be replaced with a bank note of the same face value. Local news sources indicated it is considered too early for the central bank to begin educating the public about this change in their change. No information was available at the time this article was being written as to who has been striking these coins.
The biggest problem yet to be addressed, however, is that while Kenya is trying to reach this change in its currency by the Constitution’s deadline of February 2015 the East African Community is still moving ahead with a planned monetary union that includes Kenya.
According an article published in the Aug.21 Standard newspaper, “It is not clear how [the] CBK will release the new notes and coins in the same year the EAC partner states are expected to set up a monetary union. The union will see issuance of new notes and coins in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.”
The EAC is an intergovernmental organization comprised of the African Great Lakes region countries of eastern Africa. The EAC has its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. Initially founded in 1977, the organization collapsed 10 years later. The EAC was revived in 2000 with an announced goal of uniting the five nations into a single state to be called the East African Federation with a common market and common currency, this being the East Africa shilling. The EA shilling was initially planned to be launched in 2012, but the target date for its introduction has since been pushed back to 2015.
There may be some underlying intrigue as well, regarding Kenya’s new currency. PAC raised questions about what some individuals in Parliament called “an assault on the independence of the Central Bank of Kenya.” It was the cabinet secretary, not the Kenya National Treasury or the central bank that approved the new currency system, knowing fully well the EAC monetary union is moving ahead. (It was Kenya Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia rather than a central bank spokesman who announced the new coins and bank notes in August.)
The cost of printing new Kenya bank notes has been estimated to cost about 3,721 shilling for each 1,000 notes.
The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) was awarded the ‘Regional Banknote of the Year Award 2013’ for the Flora and Fauna Banknote Series at the Reconnaissance International Limited Asian Middle East and African High Security Printing Seminar that was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 7–9 October, 2013. The new design banknotes were issued into circulation from 2 January 2013.
RBF Deputy Governor Mr Inia R Naiyaga said the RBF is extremely proud of this milestone achievement. The RBF extends its sincere gratitude to the Currency Design Committee comprising eminent Fijians for their excellent selection of Fiji’s unique flora and fauna some of which are believed to be extinct, to note printers De La Rue Currency, United Kingdom and all stakeholders for their contribution towards the designing, production, launch and issuance of Fiji’s new family of banknotes.
The Bank is also grateful to Reconnaissance International Limited for recognising Fiji’s banknotes for the best new banknote series award as this places Fiji’s currency amongst the best in the world.
The RBF is proud to be associated with contributing towards the preservation of natural biodiversity for future generations.
East Yorkshire artist Leonard Brown has made a sculpture of The Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby out of £1m of old bank notes and is exhibiting her at Beverley Art Gallery - after taking inspiration from a woman he saw in Hull city centre. Faye Preston reports.
SHE is Britain’s most famous spinster, but thanks to a Hull artist she need never be lonely again. For Leonard Brown’s sculpture of Eleanor Rigby – made out of £1m of old banknotes – is attracting scores of Beatles-lovers and art-lovers from across the area.
Displayed at Beverley Art Gallery, Eleanor Rigby The Million Pound Bag Lady, is a bold statement about poverty and wealth and she is inspired not only by the genius songwriting of Sir Paul McCartney, but by a chance sighting of an elderly lady he saw hobbling hunchbacked through Hull’s city centre almost a year ago.
Leonard, 70, said: “I saw an old lady carrying all these bags in the city centre and I thought it would make a wonderful picture. It was so sad to see and it touched me. I thought about where she was going and what she was thinking.
“I went back and drew her and as I did I got thinking about the most famous bag lady there is – Eleanor Rigby. Every town has one, you see them everywhere you go. Old ladies with more bags than they can carry, dawdling along. I hope this speaks to everyone.”
Standing about 4ft tall, her cast is made from wire and wood and her chest cavity is stuffed with £300,000 of old bank notes alone. The rest of the dosh carefully tones her face with peach-coloured “tenners” as well as the darker creases of her coat and bags.
Alongside the sculpture read the words: “I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.” It is a saying he was brought up with as a child in inner-city Liverpool and one he feels is more relevant today than ever before.
He said: “Everywhere you go people are crying about what they don’t have. This sculpture is a statement about wealth and poverty and the fact people want so much when they have so much already.”
It took Leonard months to convince the Bank of England to hand over the money. Not one to be fobbed off, he went straight to the top and called the Governor first. After being passed down the chain and proving his need for the cash was genuine, he finally bagged an appointment to pick up the notes.
“I can imagine the girl’s face when she hears this Scouser on the end of the phone asking for £1m,” said Leonard. Sitting in the grand foyer of the Bank of England, a security guard rolled out a trolly load of black bin liners stuffed with the notes – to the jaw-dropped expressions of onlookers.
“No one knew the money was shredded,” said Leonard. “Everyone was staring at me and I just pushed it out of the door and started loading up the boot of my car. I didn’t know how much a million pounds of shredded notes would be. It still makes me laugh thinking about it.”
Leonard has since sent photographs of Eleanor to the Bank of England, who replied telling him it was “absolutely fantastic”.
He is also waiting with crossed fingers for a response from Sir McCartney himself and dreams of her being displayed at the Tate Liverpool. But until then, Eleanor Rigby will take centre stage at Beverley’s gallery – and is already drawing in a crowd.
Nial Adams, museum manager, feels Eleanor is at home among the display of Fredrick Elwell’s works because both provide a type of social commentary.
He said: “This is a searing critique of modern Britain. It is a striking, interesting sculpture with a very serious idea behind it. Although the material is old, used bank notes, it is tactile and has warmth. It makes you want to give her a cuddle.”
Eleanor Rigby The Million Pound Bag Lady will be displayed until Thursday, October 17.
Paul McCartney's churchyard inspiration for Eleanor Rigby
RELEASED on August 5, 1966, Paul McCartney’s heartbreaking lyrics, “Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name; nobody came” strikes a chord that many may recognise as fear. To this day, scores of Beatles fans visit St Peter’s Church’s neat yard in the Liverpool district of Woolton where the real Eleanor Rigby lies.
She is now widely thought of to be the subconscious inspiration behind the song that spent four weeks at number one in the UK chart in 1966. Strangely, it was here John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time.
It is a short distance from Lennon’s childhood home on Menlove Avenue and he would frequently play in the graveyard after singing in the choir. But though many people believe this is the song’s heroine’s final resting place, details about her life still remain scarce.
The US Federal Reserve has issued a new hi-tech $100 banknote comprising several new security features.
It includes a blue 3D security ribbon and a bell and inkwell logo that authorities say are particularly difficult to replicate.
These combine with traditional security features, such as a portrait watermark and an embedded security thread that glows pink under ultraviolet light.
The 2010 design was delayed because of "unexpected production challenges".
The 3D security ribbon - which is woven into the note, not printed on it - features images of 100s that change into bells and move upwards or sideways depending on how you tilt the paper.
Referring to the embedded security thread Chadwick Wasilenkoff, chief executive of security paper company Fortress Paper, told the BBC: "It's not a small incremental step up for security, it's a giant leap."
Tilting also reveals a green bell within a copper-coloured inkwell to the right of the blue ribbon.
In addition, the 100 number in the bottom right-hand corner shifts from copper to green.
The redesigned banknote, which features a portrait of US founding father and scientist Benjamin Franklin, also includes raised "intaglio" printing that gives the notes a distinctive feel, and microprinted words that are difficult to read without magnification.
Forgeries
Over a decade of research and development has gone into the new note, the Fed said, in a joint project with the US Secret Service and the Department of the Treasury.
Advances in design software and high-resolution copying and printing have made it easier for counterfeiters to print fake money and harder for retailers to spot the forgeries.
US authorities say that $100 bill is the most counterfeited of all US banknotes, but accurate figures for the total value of counterfeit cash in circulation are hard to come by.
The US Secret Service estimates that counterfeit bills account for less than 0.01% of the $1.1 trillion (£683bn) of US money in circulation.
It says about $80.7m of counterfeit currency changed hands domestically in 2012, and about $14.5m abroad.
The authorities seized $9.7m in counterfeit cash before it could make it in to the US money supply, and seized $56.8m abroad in 2012.
Bruce Schneier, security expert at BT, told the BBC: "Bills have to be easy to produce cheaply and in large quantities by the government, yet hard to reproduce in small quantities by counterfeiters.
"Making something that costs less than a dollar to produce and over $100 to reproduce is a very difficult problem."
