European union:

Pre-euro:

It is old news that countries with their own currency before entering the European Union have had high demand for their banknotes. The SWPMC was out of date the moment it was printed back in 2016 for both Euros & pre-Euro varieties. In the past 10 years, I have counted myself lucky if I snagged any UNC European note for a small premium above BV. I have been fortunate to find a few but the majority have been added to my personal collection due to costs. Below are Lithuanian, Greek, Italian & German links for selected treasures I've found & the duplicates I have listed. The 2007 Lithuanian featuring aviation heroes Darius & Grenas are the last editions (similar to the Estonian and Latvian examples). Banknotes from Malta & Cyprus had small runs & can be pricey. Watch out for Croatia & Serbia which have since adopted the Euro. They are sure to follow their European counterparts in the demand for their older currencies. Also see my extras from Spain (many older Spanish varieties are inexpensive like Greek, German & Austrian examples). I recently purchased a few Escudos from Portugal & these countries remain as popular as ever. Contact me if you wish to get a few examples of mostly UNC notes. Most of my duplicates are cheaper than eBay but in much better condition! You can trust my 50 years of collecting experience to care that you are satisfied.

Euros:

I can think of 2 sound reasons why one would want to acquire early editions of the 2002 Euro series: 1st, the central bank's first president: Wim Duisenberg signature lasted a brief 2 years & 2nd there's emerging info on various printers for the JC Trichet series. I just picked up a few 5 Euro notes from France with the Trichet signature so contact me if you're interested. Early TPG higher grade Euros (with the Duisenberg signature/from tougher countries) often sell for double their BV at many auctions. Next to Central Africa & the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Euro is the only currency that represents multiple nations (some of which have the oldest and richest links to western culture). They have a massive fan-base of collectors (& non collectors) which seems to show no sign of fatigue. The key to understanding whether you have a tough (or common) Euro is like any banknote- their year, signature and prefix. Single letter prefixes (such as T for Ireland or U for France) designate which country issued the note. In the stars, (& various other parts of the banknote's design) are printer codes that also reveal which nation the note was created. This has become a hot topic for Euro collectors since some (printers) had less issued than others. At the end of the 2002 series, Mario Draghi's signature appeared & then carried on with the start of the 2013 Europa Series.

Euro prefix codes:

NATION & Prefix
Estonia D
Slovakia E
Malta F
Cyprus G
Slovenia H
Finland L
Portugal M
Austria N
Netherlands P
Italy S
Ireland T
France U
Spain V
Germany W & X
Greece Y
Belgium Z

Check out EuroBillTracker for more up-to-date info on the Euro (the newer series/printer codes, etc). Remember to check out my World Motifs page for other themes to collect.

RETURN TO LIST.
POSTAGE: for Canadian orders $2 (unless registered or Xpress mail); for US orders $4 (unless registered/priority): $5 for international orders please wait for quote- all prices are quoted in US dollars for world banknotes.

If you see a note you wish to purchase then please contact notaphilyc@gmail.com Orders should be over $10 USD minimum. If you wish to place an order over $100.00 USD, I will gladly cover postage to Canada & the US. World collectors I will quote you a regular CDN dollars quote (for SPOT exchange rate) & to discuss preferred method of shipping/payment.