200 euro note
Encyclopedia
The two hundred euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 note (€200)
is the second-highest value euro banknote and has been used since the introduction of the euro (in its cash form) in 2002.
The note is used in the 22 countries which have it as their sole currency (with 20 legally adopting it); with a population of about 332 million.

It is the second-largest note measuring 153x82mm and has a yellow colour scheme. The two hundred euro banknotes depict bridges and arches/doorways in Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

 style (between the 19th and 20th century).

The two hundred euro note contains several complex security features such as watermarks, invisible ink, holograms and microprinting that document its authenticity. In September 2011, there were approximately 178,838,200 two hundred euro banknotes in circulation around the Eurozone 17.

Before the introduction

The euro was set up on 1 January 1999, when it became the currency of over 300 million people in Europe. For the first three years of its existence it was an invisible currency, only used in accountance. Euro cash was not introduced until 1 January 2002, when it replaced the banknotes and coins of the eurozone 12, as it was then, national currencies like the Irish Pound
Irish pound
The Irish pound was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the usual notation was the prefix £...

 and the Austrian schilling
Austrian schilling
The schilling was the currency of Austria from 1924 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1999, and the circulating currency until 2002. The euro was introduced at a fixed parity of €1 = 13.7603 schilling to replace it...

.

After the introduction

The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002. The official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from member state to member state. The earliest date was in Germany, where the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2001, though the exchange period lasted for two months more. Even after the old currencies ceased to be legal tender, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for periods ranging from ten years to forever.

Changes

There has so far only been one series of euro notes, however a new series similar to the current one is to be issued from 2011. The initial issue of notes bears the signature of the president of the European Central Bank
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...

, Wim Duisenberg
Wim Duisenberg
Willem Frederik "Wim" Duisenberg was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He was the first President of the European Central Bank from 1 July 1998 until 31 October 2003. He was instrumental in the Introduction of the euro in the European Union in 2002. He was also credited for making numerous...

, who was replaced on 1 November 2003 by Jean-Claude Trichet
Jean-Claude Trichet
Jean-Claude Trichet is a French civil servant who was the president of the European Central Bank, a position he held from 2003 to 2011. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements...

, whose signature appears on subsequent issues.

Design

The two hundred euro note measures at 153 millimetres (6 in) × 82 millimetres (3.2 in) with a yellow colour scheme. All bank notes depict bridges and arches/doorways in a different historical European style; the two hundred euro note shows the Art Noveau era (between the nineteenth
19th century
The 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...

 and twentieth century CE
20th century
Many people define the 20th century as running from January 1, 1901 to December 31, 2000, others would rather define it as beginning on January 1, 1900....

). Although Robert Kalina
Robert Kalina
Robert Kalina from the National Bank of Austria created the T 382 design, which was the winning design of the 1996 competition for the art shown on the euro banknotes. Kalina's design was chosen by the EMI Council on 3 December 1996...

's original designs were intended to show real monuments, for political reasons the bridge and art are merely hypothetical examples of the architectural era.

Like all euro notes, it contains the denomination, the EU flag, the signature of the president of the ECB
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...

 and the initials of said bank in different EU languages
Languages of the European Union
The languages of the European Union are languages used by people within the member states of the European Union. They include the twenty-three official languages of the European Union along with a range of others...

, a depiction of EU territories overseas, the stars from the EU flag and twelve security features as listed below.

Security features

The two hundred euro note is protected by a hologram stripe, reflective glossy stripe, a EURion constellation
EURion constellation
The EURion constellation is a pattern of symbols found on a number of banknote designs worldwide since about 1996. It is added to help software detect the presence of a banknote in a digital image. Such software can then block the user from reproducing banknotes to prevent counterfeiting using...

, watermark
Watermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...

s, microprinting, ultraviolet ink, raised printing, a security thread, matted surface, perforations, see through number, colour changing ink, barcodes and a serial number.

Circulation

The €200 banknote is the least used banknote in the Eurozone. As of September 2011, there are approximately 178,838,200 €200 banknotes in circulation around the Eurozone 17. That is approximately €35,767,638,400 worth of €200 banknotes (as of September 2011). The European Central Bank is closely monitoring the circulation and stock of the euro coins and banknotes. It is a task of the Eurosystem to ensure an efficient and smooth supply of euro notes and to maintain their integrity throughout the euro area.

Legal information

Legally, both the European Central Bank and the central banks of the eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...

 countries have the right to issue the 7 different euro banknotes. In practice, only the national central banks of the zone physically issue and withdraw euro banknotes. The European Central Bank does not have a cash office and is not involved in any cash operations.

Tracking

There are several communities of hobbyists, such as EuroBillTracker
EuroBillTracker
EuroBillTracker is a website designed for tracking euro banknotes. It was inspired by the U.S. currency tracking website Where's George?.- Characteristics :...

, which track the euro notes as they pass through their hands, to record their numbers and monitor their travel. Their aim is to record is to ascertain details about its spread and to generate statistics and rankings for various notes. EuroBillTracker had registered over 96 million notes as of October 2011.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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