In a few months from now the euro will be a part of Europeans' everyday lives, but at present very few people know just what the seven new banknotes and eight coins (the coins each have one side with a design for the individual member-country) will look like.
So it is clearly advisable to take a good look at them all, especially as the experts are worried lest fraudsters try to capitalize on people's uncertainty early next year by passing counterfeit euros.
PHOTO: AP
The 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500-euro notes will differ in color and size. The higher the denomination, the larger the size. The smallest, the 5-euro note, measures just 12 by 5.2 and the 500-euro note is a more spacious 16 by 8.2cm.
Windows and gateways on the obverse symbolize the European Union's openness and the outlook onto a united Europe. On the reverse, bridges stand for European cooperation. The portals, windows and bridges on the notes each belong to a specific epoch in cultural history.
The grey 5-euro note features a gateway reminiscent of the Ancient World. The red 10-euro note features a Romanesque graduated portal. A vaulted window on the blue 20-euro note symbolises the Gothic epoch, while the orange-coloured 50-euro note features the Renaissance.
The green 100-euro note stands for the Baroque era, the yellow-brown 200-euro note for the iron and glass architecture of the 19th century, while the lilac-colored 500-euro note symbolizes the transition to the 21st century with a modern glass facade.
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