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The fourth banknote of the Europa series, the euro €50, enters circulation today containing a variety of new, modern security features to help combat the threat of banknote counterfeiting.

The new euro €50 banknote denomination includes KURZ’s KINEGRAM ReView® holographic foil stripe including a portrait window. The window displays a portrait of Greek mythology figure Europa, visible on each side of the note and can be seen with the naked eye.

KINEGRAM reView® was also used on the Europa €20 denomination issued in November 2015.

The portrait of Europa is also used for the watermark, and SICPA’s SPARK® optically variable ink is used to display the note’s denomination as a large ’emerald number’. When the note is tilted, the ink changes from green to deep blue with a rolling effect.

Such public recognition features allow the note to be easily authenticated by the public, says the European Central Bank (ECB), using the “feel, look and tilt” method.

Watch one of the Europa €50 educational films from the ECB:

The threat of counterfeits

The €50 denomination banknote is the most commonly used denomination of the euro banknote series, accounting for 45% of all banknotes circulating throughout the eurozone.

Consequently, it is also the most counterfeited. The most recent figures from the ECB show that the euro €50 accounted for 42.5% of all counterfeit euro banknotes withdrawn from circulation last year.  As such, there was a great need for the ECB to ensure its design included a combination of up-to-date security features to reduce this risk.

See: Counterfeit euro banknotes remain low during 2016
All imagery courtesy of the European Central Bank.