€100 & €200 Banknotes

New on the left, old on the right.

The last of the new Europa series of Euro banknotes has been released.  In 2013, the new fiver was released followed later by the new tenner, twenty, and fifty.

On 28 May the new €100 and €200 banknotes both went in to circulation.  This is the first time that two different banknotes from this series have been released at one time.

The €100 banknote is the third most widely circulated denomination after the €50 and the €20.  I'm not a fan of the €100 because it can be a pain in the arse when you want to make a small purchase and the seller bitches about having to make change.



The €200 banknote is pretty rare.  At least in my opinion.  I've lived in Europe going on 10 years now and I think I've maybe come across it two or three times.  It would be an even bigger hassle to break than the €100 banknote.

Both the new €100 and €200 banknotes have the Cyrillic "EBPO" added to the Latin "EURO" and Greek "ΕΥΡΩ".  There are watermarks, holograms, invisible ink and microprinting for security.  This completes the new Europa series as a there won't be a new €500 banknote.

Last month the central banks stopped producing the €500 note but it will remain legal tender.  The €500 banknote is one of the world's highest-value banknotes in circulation.  This is one reason that some had called for the €500 to be withdrawn.  Since you can have a large value of money in a small amount of banknotes, it could be go-to currency for money laundering, drug trafficking, and tax evasion.

Here's a YouTube video about the security features of the new banknotes.

©European Central Bank