Paper banknotes, of course, depending on the country of issue, differ in design and patterns, but in most cases they are quite typical and ordinary. But there are some really interesting banknotes to which we dedicate this review. Today we will talk about 5 most extraordinary banknotes in modern world.

National Bank Norway has recently come to the conclusion that the current Norwegian krone banknotes are obsolete and do not correspond to the high level of the state in all areas public life. That is why this financial department announced an open competition to develop the design of banknotes of the future.

The Metric System studio won this competition, offering to turn Norwegian money into real ones. On the one hand, the future banknotes will feature an ordinary pattern corresponding to the theme proposed by the National Bank, and on the other, its cubic version, in which one can find the influence of Picasso or Malevich.

Vertical banknote: Olympic 100 rubles

Especially for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, the Central Bank of Russia issued a commemorative banknote with a face value of 100 rubles. This is one of the few cases where a banknote has a vertical rather than a horizontal design.

The obverse side of this new Russian hundred-ruble note depicts a snowboarder flying in a jump, the silhouette of mountains near the city of Adler, as well as the Olympic Park in the Imereti Valley. On the reverse side of the banknote, you can see the Fisht stadium in the park mentioned above and the firebird, a magical animal from Russian folk tales.

Interestingly, this is the first time in the history of Russian bonistics that a commemorative banknote was issued - previously only coins were issued for certain events.
From 2015, the British pound sterling will be considered one of the most reliable currencies in the world, not only in terms of convertibility, but also in a direct, physical sense. After all, the new banknotes of the United Kingdom will become plastic, which will have a good effect on their wear resistance.

Unlike paper, polymeric material is much worse torn, erased and bent. Therefore, such money can serve much longer. In addition, plastic banknotes retain several times less bacteria and microbes than their conventional paper counterparts.

True, the UK is far from the first state where it was decided to turn paper banknotes into plastic ones. Canada, New Zealand, Romania, Mexico, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Australia and even Mongolia have already switched to polymers.
Another country where plastic banknotes are in use is Hong Kong, an autonomous region of China with its own currency. But the local banknotes stand out among the rest of the money in the world not so much by the material from which they are made, but by design.

Looking at the 10 Hong Kong dollars, issued in 2007, you can say the word "rich". There is no other most accurate epithet. After all, it is difficult to find any recognizable elements in the design of this bill, except for letters, numbers and hieroglyphs.

The basis of the image on this banknote is lines, strokes and separate geographical figures, made in white, blue, light blue and violet colors. total avant-garde.
And if in Norway and Hong Kong, banknote designers are trying to think about the future, giving their creations avant-garde motives, then in Macedonia in 1992 they decided to adopt the style of primitivism as a visual basis for their currency.

As evidence, we can cite a banknote of 5 thousand denar of the 1992 sample, which the Bonists consider one of the most ridiculous banknotes in the world. It depicts a girl who works on a computer. Moreover, this drawing was made deliberately carelessly, primitively.

In subsequent issues of Macedonian money, the programmer girl disappeared, but the style remained the same. The images on the money were based on ancient Balkan icons and frescoes on a religious theme.

The first stage of character selection for the new banknotes of the Bank of Russia in denominations of 200 and 2000 rubles is nearing completion. For the first time in history, the citizens of the country themselves choose what exactly will be depicted on banknotes. While the voting is going on, Lenta.ru found out how they developed and chose the design of money for the main world currency - the dollar, the main European currency - the euro, and the Norwegian krone, which, according to the editors, claims to be one of the most original in terms of design .

Spirit of Europe

When deciding on the choice of design for the single currency of the euro area, the working group set quite stringent requirements: no national or gender bias, the design must reflect European values ​​- openness and cooperation in relations both among themselves and with the rest of the world.

In 1994, a working group was given the task of submitting a list of themes that could potentially be used in the design of new banknotes. The themes were developed in close collaboration with experts in cultural history, psychologists and graphic designers. The result was a long list of 18 stories, including European flora and fauna, common myths and legends, the founding fathers of Europe, and so on.

Of these, only three topics were presented to the Council of the European Monetary Institute, the predecessor of the European central bank. The shortlist included "Architectural eras and styles of Europe", "Abstract modern design" and "Heritage of Europe". Ultimately, only the first two were selected for the competition.

In the abstract version, there were no clear requirements for design. But if the designers chose an architectural theme, then it was necessary to represent a certain era on a banknote of different denominations.

For example, on a banknote of 5 euros it was necessary to display the classical (ancient) era, for 10 euros - the Romanesque style, for 20 euros - Gothic, the Renaissance - on a banknote of 50 euros, for 100 euros baroque and rococo were offered, a two-hundred euro bill was supposed to display the era of glass and steel, and banknotes of the highest denomination - 500 euros - were supposed to be decorated with an illustration of modern architecture of the twentieth century.

In addition, colors and sizes for banknotes of all denominations were predetermined, as well as some mandatory elements for placement: the designation of the denomination, 12 stars symbolizing the unity of the EU countries, the abbreviation of the European Central Bank in five language versions, as well as the signature of the head of the ECB.

Only designers selected by the heads of the national central banks of the member countries of the eurozone were allowed to participate in the competition. Each state could submit no more than three artists, who were given seven months to offer their designs for banknotes of all denominations, either in one of the styles (architecture or modern art), or in two at once.

The acceptance of works ended on September 13, 1996. To this day, 29 designers and design teams have submitted 44 sets of potential future money. Of these, 27 were devoted to architectural eras, and 17 to modern design.

Each set was assigned a three-digit number. The jury, formed from independent experts in marketing, design, art history, chose five series of banknotes in each of the two topics.

The next stage is a public opinion poll: 2,000 people from different countries, who were going to join the euro area, answered 30 questions.

In the end, the winner was determined: the Austrian Robert Kalina. And although it did not receive the highest number of votes in the poll (23 percent versus 35 percent for the favorite), more than 75 percent of those polled agreed that its design best reflects the European spirit.

American history of money

Everyone is familiar with green banknotes with presidents, but not everyone knows that dollars acquired their current appearance relatively recently - in the 20s of the last century.

Since that time, the US Treasury has been actively using green paint in the design of money. On the one hand, for security reasons (old-style banknotes were black and white, they were easily counterfeited with cameras - they were filmed, printed and cut), on the other hand, for psychological reasons (green is considered the color of optimism and reliability).

Before unification, dollars were completely different. The first banknotes were issued by the Continental Congress in the 18th century. They were beige with a black border and the words "United States of North America". The banknote depicted a pyramid of 13 steps - one for each state that is part of the young state.

The US grew in new territories, and each state printed its own dollars. This continued until the Civil War. At the same time, the exchange rates of dollars of different states differed. In particular, those printed in New York were more expensive than those printed in Tennessee. The design was also different. They placed the emblem of the bank that printed banknotes, denomination and some image. For example, the Statue of Liberty or cotton plantations (it was relevant for the southern states).

At various times, bison (10 dollars 1901), eagles (1000 dollars 1918), Indians (5 dollars 1899) and even the first lady of the United States Martha Washington (1 dollar 1886) appeared on American money. Gradually, banknotes were acquired modern look. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln appeared on 10 dollars (later he migrated to a five-dollar bill).

The design of American money is constantly changing. The color scheme is becoming more complex, security systems are being improved, the number of artistic elements is increasing or decreasing. By 2020, new 20, 10 and 5 US dollars will be introduced into circulation.

The 20-dollar bill was dedicated to Harriet Tubman, a black woman who fought against slavery and for equal rights for women. Her Tubman portrait will be featured on the front of the bill. The back will still have the White House and an image of President Andrew Jackson.

The new $10 note will be dedicated to the history of the suffragist movement. Figures such as Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Coward, Susan Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul will be portrayed against the backdrop of the Treasury. Seven years before the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution (granting women the right to vote), activists held a rally on the steps of the Treasury building.

Five dollars will tell about historical events at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. In 1939, when the capital's concert halls were still racially segregated, Marian Anderson, a black civil rights opera singer, supported by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, sang there in front of 75,000 people. In 1963, black rights activist Martin Luther King delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech there.

The US Treasury made a decision on the new design of banknotes, taking into account the views of Americans: thousands of people sent their proposals in response to a request to participate in the selection of historical figures and events that could be placed on new banknotes.

Pixel revolution

One of the most original designs was chosen by the Norwegian National Bank.

Today Norwegian krone looks quite traditional. They depict famous citizens of the country: the artist Edvard Munch (author of the famous painting "The Scream"), the writer Sigrid Undset (Nobel Prize winner in literature in 1928) and others.

By 2017, the design will be radically redone. In 2014, the Central Bank of Norway announced a competition for a new design. The main theme is the sea. Each denomination was offered its own maritime motif: 50 crowns should show the sea that unites the Norwegians; 100 crowns - the sea connecting Norway with the outside world; 200 crowns - the sea that feeds people; 500 crowns - the sea as a source of wealth; and, finally, 1000 crowns - the sea that carries the country into the future.

It is noteworthy that two design studios - The Metric System and Snohetta Design - were recognized as the winners of the competition. An original decision was made: the image developed by the first company would be placed on the front side of the bills, the second - on the back.

The Metric System used traditional motifs: a lighthouse, a boat, a storm, and so on. Snohetta Design has adopted an abstract pixelated (or digital) style: traditional drawings are blurred and turned into eight-bit paintings.

Russian rubles with portraits of scientists and their inventions. This banknote design was developed by 32-year-old Permian Yegor Shabanov, and many Internet users liked his project. The designer told the site how he decided to create new money in a “scientific” concept and why his version is better than the one that is now.

Egor recently graduated from the British high school design - Moscow branch of the University of Hertfordshire, which trains designers. In the third semester at the university, students were given the task of coming up with a redesign of a currency. Interestingly, most of the students decided to come up with their own version of rubles.

The idea of ​​my concept is “from the past to the future”. I wanted to show that the directions for the development of the future are laid in the past. On the front side of the banknotes, I depicted scientists against the background of their drafts, works.. - Other concepts were also considered (nature, for example, animals). But they are quite static, their theme does not develop. And scientists either laid the foundation for development, or made a significant contribution to it.

On banknotes, Perm depicted Russian scientists: inventors Alexander Popov, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, engineer Vladimir Shukhov and geneticist Nikolai Dubinin.

It was difficult to choose from hundreds of scientists those whom to put on banknotes. I took outstanding experts from five different areas, the designer explains.

Egor Shabanov protected his banknotes from counterfeiting.

I used different systems- from well-known to everyone, such as a watermark, holograms, special paper, to those that do not pay attention when looking at banknotes. This is, for example, the Oryol seal, which, although it was invented more than a century ago, is still a strong protection against fakes, says the Permian. - Personally, my “innovation” is a rethinking of the engraving of portraits and drawings. They combine a pixel image with small engraving strokes of different thicknesses. As a result, there are many details that cannot be printed without special equipment.

Permyak believes that his money design looks much more modern than the current one.

He is more secure. It also has "movement", as opposed to the "collage of monuments" that have stood and will stand as before.

Yegor is not going to promote his project yet. This is his first work related to money.

It would be nice if that kind of money came into circulation, but the current design needs to be finalized. Still, this is a training project, for which there was not much time, - says the Permian.

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German notgeld with donkeys and devils

During and after the First World War, Germany ran out of change money, and then hyperinflation set in. Therefore, the Reichsbank allowed regional currencies - notgelds, "forced money". They also appeared in other European countries, but there were especially many of them in Germany. German notgelds were issued by local authorities and some entrepreneurs, they were made from paper, porcelain, pressed coal. The bills were also intricate: on some, a donkey defecated, on others, the devil bared his teeth. They gradually fell out of circulation after 1923–1924, when the authorities introduced the annuity mark and the Reichsmark.

Swiss franc with portraits
artists

In the second half of the 1990s, the Swiss National Bank replaced banknotes - they became vertical. On the front side, two portraits of the architect Le Corbusier, the composer Arthur Honegger, the artist Sophie Teuber-Arp, the sculptor Alberto Giacometti, the writer Charles Ferdinand Ramyu and the culturologist Jacob Burckhardt are printed. On the reverse side, their biography is figuratively retold. Franks are considered one of the most reliable currencies and look appropriate: as if they were printed on canvas.

Samoan tala of cheerful colors

In 2008, the tiny state of Samoa issued new banknotes. They depict landscapes, children, the rugby team that won the prestigious tournament in Hong Kong a year earlier, the late leader Malietoa Tanumafili II, the cathedral, the building of the Central Bank. But what especially gives out the issuer is the cheerful colors of the banknotes: peach, turquoise, bright yellow, lilac, lime. In a word, a serene land.

Pound, valid in one area of ​​London

The Brixton pound is in circulation in just one area of ​​London. Local enthusiasts issued banknotes in the fall of 2009 to help support the economy, which has collapsed due to the global financial crisis. The government supported them. The banknote depicts musician David Bowie, activist Olive Morris, scientist James Lovelock, basketball player Luol Deng and other famous countrymen. The Brixton pound is equal to the pound sterling, but sells for more to collectors. For example, a "ten" with Bowie costs £ 15.7-21.5, including postage.

100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars

Last week Russian ruble briefly turned into one euro cent, and on Facebook, nervous jokes about the Zimbabwean scenario began to walk again. Over the 35 years of Zimbabwe's independence, inflation was below 10% only in the first year, and in the second half of 2008 it was calculated - or rather, estimated - as a number with 23 digits. Prices grew at a fantastic pace due to the fact that the country's authorities did not come up with anything better than printing unsecured banknotes. Because of this, bills of hundreds of billions and trillions of dollars went to Zimbabwe, which had to be denominated almost every year. In appearance, they do not differ much from the same ruble, but they stand out with the image of huge cobblestones and a font in the style of rock band logos.

Vertical-horizontal Kazakhstani tenge

The Association of Collectors of The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) has chosen the Kazakhstani tenge as the best denomination for three years in a row. On the one hand, banknotes of 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 tenge should be held vertically, like the Swiss franc, on the other, horizontally. They depict the monument to the Cossack Eli and pigeons, and in addition, the ancient monument to Kul-tegin, rock paintings, the presidential palace, the monument of Independence of Kazakhstan, landscapes. All this is conveyed by rich red, yellow and purple colors.

High tech Canadian dollar

In the spring, the Norwegian Bank held a competition to find a new note design; The theme was the sea. In the final round, the Enzo Finger studio won with "pockmarked" layouts. However, in the wallets of the northerners there will be other banknotes. The front sides will be taken from The Metric System application: they depict a lighthouse, a dragon, a wave in the traditional manner. The reverse sides will be "pixelated", with abstract drawings, moreover, the larger the denomination, the larger the "grain". New crowns will not be printed until 2017, and their design may still change due to security features.

There will be more money in Russia, but it will be more difficult to pay with it.

Recently, many respectable Russians have been called scammers and refuse to accept new banknotes of 200 and 2000 rubles from them. “I see them for the first time”, “I won’t take it”, “they don’t give me that kind of money,” the sellers and waiters repeat, looking at bright pieces of paper in disbelief. The Bank of Russia introduced the novelty in October last year. The symbols depicted on the new money were chosen after a noisy campaign. Lenta.ru figured out why the Russians do not recognize the new money, and also found out that the country is being prepared for a mass change of all the usual banknotes.

Strange rubles

At the end of January, every tenth point of sale Russia refused to accept the novelties of the Bank of Russia. They are not recognized by ATMs, reprogramming of devices should be completed only by the middle of this year. In some cities, citizens who have received two hundred and two thousandths with a salary are forced to exchange them in banks.

All this causes dull discontent, and the authorities cannot ignore it. To verify the authenticity, Goznak has developed a special mobile app, and Rospotrebnadzor threatened the most suspicious sellers with a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles. To finally calm the population, the Central Bank even had to shoot a music video for social networks. In the video, Elvira Nabiullina, the chairman of the Bank of Russia, sings fervently about the urgent need to leave.

But phone apps, groovy videos and threats of fines do not help much, people are afraid of unusual money or sell it as souvenirs. “What is it, bitcoins?”, “Some strange, did you draw it yourself?”, “It looks like a euro!” the Russians exclaim. Indeed, if you lay out the banknotes of different countries on the table, the classic dollar can be found without problems, but the new “two hundred” and “two thousandths” can be lost in the general mass.

European values

There is nothing unusual in the fact that the population does not recognize new bills, there have been similar situations in the past more than once, says Yuri Koverdyaev, a former Goznak artist. “In the 1990s, I had to stand up for one grandmother, because the trolley bus driver refused to accept new banknotes from her. I had to puff out my cheeks and say that now there is a denomination and both banknotes are in circulation,” he recalls.

Nevertheless, the new money has problems - it is too radically different from the usual type of cash and frankly copies Western design. “To put it mildly, the new banknotes can hardly be called successful: they are poorly recognizable, fall out of the composition range and are too similar to the euro. Of course it is sad. But, apparently, the artist was put in such conditions that he was forced to do just that, and not otherwise, ”says the artist. The series of money now in circulation was launched in 1995, it was also very different from Soviet and post-Soviet banknotes. And then, and now we can observe the strongest gap in the continuity of the design of banknotes, Koverdyaev is sure.

Stalin, dollar and continuity

“There are some immutable symbols that we always recognize. The same coat of arms of the USSR or the coat of arms that Belarus inherited from the BSSR, on which even the star remained, is recognized, they are used to it, ”says the former Goznak artist. Russia returned to the double-headed eagle in the early 1990s, and cardinal changes also took place in the design of banknotes. “In our country, unfortunately, conceptual changes lead to the fact that we ourselves cease to recognize our money. It’s sad, because money is the face of the country,” he laments.

But it was not always so. Soviet money, which was in use in 1947-1961, was very reminiscent of tsarist banknotes. According to legend, the idea of ​​their design was suggested to the artists by Stalin himself. Since 1961, a series of money familiar to many has been launched. It lasted almost until 1993. Then the usual “triples”, “fives”, “quarters” and others were replaced by banknotes in denominations of 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 rubles, the design of which still corresponded to Soviet standards. This happened due to the fact that the design of both Soviet and Russian money was developed by one person - the patriarch of Goznak Igor Sergeevich Krylkov.

As a standard of continuity and preservation of traditions, experts cite the American dollar, appearance which has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. No matter how they modernize the design or change the color of the notes, the overall composition remains the same: a strict frame around the perimeter, and a portrait is placed in the middle.

Gagarin on money

In the 1990s, governments and central bankers changed frequently. New executives came with their own ideas about the design of money, Koverdyaev recalls. There were whole series of banknotes already printed, but not put into circulation. Their sketches can be seen in the St. Petersburg Museum of Money, which is located in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Portraits were placed on tsarist and Soviet money, but twenty years ago they decided to abandon this tradition. “At that time, our entire workshop at Goznak regretted that they had abandoned portraits. We can make whole series for one scientists, composers, writers and artists. Over time, it would be possible to change images and modernize the design,” says the artist.

Experts believed that the so-called urban or architectural series of banknotes, launched in 1995, would not last long and would soon be replaced, but it turned out quite the opposite - it is still used today. According to Koverdyaev, a return to portraits on banknotes would be useful for recognizing Russian money in the world. “Korolev, Tsiolkovsky or Mendeleev are our world stars. Someone may not know a Swiss artist or a Belgian writer, but Gagarin, sorry, knows the whole world!” he says.

The time has come

Banknotes in denominations of 200 and 2000 rubles, apparently, are the first signs of a new series of Russian paper money. Last October, Arkady Trachuk, General Director of Goznak, said that it was time to change the design of all banknotes. “It seems to me that in some cases the moment has already come to change the appearance. The concept of appearance has been unchanged since 1995, for more than 20 years. For 20 years, the views on both design and the protective complex have changed quite a lot, ”he said. According to him, the most counterfeited five thousandth banknote may be the first to be modernized.

Goznak believes that the issue of updating the design is “overdue”. “We also expect that such an update will take into account the style of designing the denominations of 200 and 2000 rubles,” Gleb Rudenko, press secretary of Gozanak, told Lente.ru.

Whether the Bank of Russia is going to update the look of money is still unclear. “A possible transition to a new design and technical protection of banknotes will occur as planned,” the press service of the regulator said. “Let the population get used to the new banknotes for now, we cannot do something very abruptly and scare people,” the Central Bank noted. Koverdyaev believes that the Central Bank and Goznak are already working on a new line of money. The gradual replacement of obsolete banknotes with new ones can occur within two, maximum three years, he believes.

Stylish trendy youth

The tone in the global banknote industry is now set by the Swiss franc. A series of vertically oriented banknotes appeared in circulation in 1994, and their bold, original design was immediately copied by other countries, such as Israel. Russian banknotes dedicated to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, as well as the Crimean banknote with views of Sevastopol, also largely repeat the ideas of Swiss artists. In addition to beauty, Swiss francs are ahead of the rest in terms of protection and printing.

According to the Central Bank, almost nine trillion rubles are currently in cash circulation in Russia. About once every twenty years, the design of banknotes should be changed to prevent counterfeiting and better control over the circulation of money. However, with the development of technology, many people practically do not hold cash in their hands, but pay with cards and mobile phones. In 2017 (for the first time in ten years), the Bank of Russia recorded a decrease in the number of cash withdrawal operations — in such conditions, interest in the design of cash is gradually decreasing.