Catalog
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| Issuer | European Central Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 2015 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 133 x 72 mm |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 20 EURO EYPΩ EBPO |
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| Protection description | a Gothic architectural motif and the numeral '20' visible when held to light; embedded security thread with 'BCE ECB EZB EKP EKT ЕЦБ' microtext; Emerald number at lower left shifts from emerald green to deep blue with a light effect when tilted; portrait hologram on the right side of the obverse incorporating the numeral '20', the euro symbol, and the main architectural image; the '20' numeral at lower right on the reverse. |
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| Comments |
The Europa series 20 Euro was introduced in November 2015, the third denomination released in the redesigned series following the 5 and 10. Like all Europa notes, it incorporates a portrait of Europa — the Phoenician princess from Greek mythology — embedded in the watermark and hologram, taken from a 2nd-century BC vessel held in the Louvre. The decision to include a mythological figure rather than any historical European was itself a deliberate political compromise.
The emerald number, introduced across the Europa series, produces a light effect visible to the naked eye and was specifically engineered to defeat the increasingly sophisticated scanning and printing equipment available to counterfeiters by the early 2010s.