Travel> How to Check a Euro Note

Image: Euro Note
Image courtesy: flickr

Text by: Tanya Munshi

In an endless list of Europe travel, as a tourist you need to be extra careful while handling currency. In all the excitement of visiting a new place, you wouldn’t want any misadventure to ruin your trip - especially when it comes to handling foreign currency.There are several security features to identify an authentic Euro note from a fake one.
Here are some easy and handy tips to help you figure out the note you’ve been given is a genuine one.

Watermark: Every denomination is printed on a unique watermarked paper. You can see this by holding the note against the light.

Bar code: When you hold a Euro note against the light you will notice metallic bars to the right of the watermark.

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Security thread: If you hold a Euro note against against the light, you will notice a black thread in the middle of the note. This thread shows the denomination of the note, with ‘Euro’ written on it.

Variable color ink: For €50 and higher, on the reverse of these notes, look for a variable color that appears on the lower right hand corner. If you look at the color from varying angles, it will change color between purple and green.

Holographic band: On the front side of the Euro notes from €5, €10 and €20, you will find an embedded holographic band on the right hand corner. Every note has a unique holographic band. For example, in a €10 note, the band will have denominations of €10 like this – “€10 €10 €10…” For currency notes of €50 and above, this band is imprinted with a holographic symbol.

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Registration: Hold a Euro note facing you. Notice that on the upper left hand corner in the front, has the note denomination printed incompletely. Whereas, this denomination appears complete on the reverse, right hand corner of the note. When you hold the note against the light, you can see the entire denomination clearly on the left side. More so, a genuine note will have a perfect alignment between the front (left) and the rear (right). A counterfeit note on the other hand, may not display a perfect alignment.