How to Check a Watermark

Make sure you have a euro banknote to hand as our host Katie Ranger and Martin Münd, counterfeit expert and banknote enthusiast, explore everything you need to know about euro banknotes. The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank. Published on 5 February 2022 and recorded on 19 January 2022. In this episode: 01:26 – What exactly does a counterfeit expert do? How our guest Martin Münd turned his passion for banknotes into a job and what his role as an ECB counterfeit expert involves. 5:18 – 20 years of euro banknotes Euro banknotes were introduced on 1 January 2002 in what was the world’s largest ever cash changeover. What are our guest’s memories of that day? 08:43 – Banknote design What the design elements of euro banknotes are, why they matter and how visually impaired people can distinguish between different banknote denominations. 13:39 – How to spot a fake banknote What the security features of euro banknotes are, how you can check if a banknote is real or fake using the “feel-look-tilt” method, and what tomatoes and banknotes have in common. 25:33 – What’s next for euro banknotes? How we are planning to further develop euro banknotes and why we will be redesigning them over the next few years. 28:27 – Our guest’s “hot tip” for our listeners Our guest Martin Münd gives a tip for adding a banknote element to your summer holidays! Additional material: 20 years of euro banknotes and coins https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/20_years_of_euro/html/index.en.html Press release: Euro banknote counterfeiting at historically low level in 2021, January 2022 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2022/html/ecb.pr220128~d65c3326c2.en.html Catch me (if you can): assessing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via euro cash, July 2021 https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op259~33b180d450.en.pdf Europa series banknotes: security features https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/security/html/index.en.html#feel European Central Bank https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html You can also listen to The ECB Podcast on SoundCloud, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, YouTube, Amazon Music and many more pod.link/ecbpodcast