GRTU holds session on the new €10

GRTU has organized an information and
training session in collaboration with the Central Bank of Malta in view of the
introduction of the €10 from the new Europa series of banknotes on 23rd
September.

This new banknote was unveiled
at the very beginning of the year, in January. It will be the second banknote
in the Europa series and, like the €5, will incorporate several new security
features which aim to maintain the trust that 334 million people across the
euro area have in their money.

The banknotes of the Europa
series are being introduced gradually over several years. The €5 was introduced
in May 2013 and during the coming years the remaining denominations of the
Europa series will also be issued.     

Participants were also given
samples of the new €10 Banknote and trained on the new security features. While
the new €10 resembles the one first issued in 2002, it has been given a fresh
look and has several new and enhanced security features. Like the first series of
euro banknotes, the new €10 banknote will be very easy to check manually and
visually, using the "feel, look and tilt" method. In addition to the portrait
of Europa in the hologram and the watermark, the notes include an emerald
number, which changes colour from emerald green to deep blue when tilted. The
€5 and €10 banknotes of the Europa series are more durable as they have a
protective coating. This means that the banknotes will need to be replaced less
frequently, thus lowering costs and reducing the impact on the environment.

In the new Europa series one can
also find little Malta which has been included in the map on the banknote as
well as ‘BĊE' written in Maltese fonts for Bank Ċentrali Ewropew.

The Eurosystem is taking steps
to support the adaptation of cash-handling machines and authentication devices
by the September launch date. Owners of such equipment are advised to contact
their suppliers or manufacturers as soon as possible in order to get ready for
the new €10 note.

The Central Bank of Malta
offered to provide direct training to the staff of companies that would like to
learn how to recognize counterfeits especially for employees that do not have
easy access to machines such as drivers that work outside the premises.

One of the clarifications
following the meeting is that the detector pens work on ES 1 and ES 2 notes
equally. The pens contain a solution of iodine which shows a brownish colour
when reacting with starch. Unlike banknote paper almost all commercially
available papers contain starch. That is why counterfeits usually show the said
colour reaction. The coating on the ES 2 banknotes has no influence on the
test.