Counterfeit
Banknotes rarely portray current monarchs or presidents
Central banks favour other historical figures, but few institutions feature people from minority groups

Somalia’s Abdullahi on the challenges of re-integration with the international system
The Central Bank of Somalia governor speaks about capacity building, reintroducing the shilling, securing donor support and climate change

Senad Softić on governance, currency boards and EU convergence challenges
Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina governor speaks about governance, managing a currency board and modernising payments

Banknote themes in motion
Antti Heinonen asks whether the world is about to witness a revolution in banknote images
Marks (and sizes and colours) of distinction
Many central banks make an effort to make cash accessible to blind and partially sighted users
Somalia plans to introduce new notes by 2024
Country has become dollarised since the collapse of the central government in 1991
The behind-the-scenes effort to convert Ukrainian refugee cash
How central and commercial banks worked to allow Ukrainians to exchange cash in wartime
Nigerian governor says new banknotes will lessen cash hoarding
Governor says 85% of notes are outside banking system as finance minister criticises move
Should a CBDC really be like cash?
Electronic and physical cash are fundamentally different and must be treated as such
Currency round-up
New notes for Paraguay, printing error for Thailand, and news from Peru, Costa Rica and Tonga
Banknotes round-up: Egypt debuts polymer note
Peru continues rollout of new series; Mexico to withdraw 20 peso note; and more
Banknotes: April to June 2022
A round-up of news and salient issues that have affected central bankers in the past three months
Are central banks ahead of banknote counterfeiters?
Antti Heinonen analyses data on recent trends in counterfeiting
Barbados to make switch to polymer
Redesigned banknotes will circulate by end of year, says governor
Currency Benchmarks 2021 – presentation
Central Banking’s currency subject matter specialist Rachael King on access, impact of Covid-19, and more
Material world: the enduring appeal of paper banknotes
Central banks have used space-age polymers to make banknotes for decades. So why does paper remain predominant in banknote production?
RBNZ seeks to quell ‘urban myth’ over counterfeit cash
Central bank says people risk falling foul of the law as practice of “scraping” banknotes spreads
Currency Benchmarks 2021 report – executive summary
Perspectives on staffing, circulation, forecasting, note security and composition, outsourcing and more
Advanced economies more likely to outsource counterfeit detection
Emerging market economies more likely to outsource distribution
Currency managers fighting counterfeits with new security features
Availability of sophisticated printers see counterfeits continue to rise
Sustainability: a hallmark of cash
Tod Niedeck, corporate marketing director at Crane Currency makes the case for the sustainability benefits that are inherent in the production of paper banknotes, contrasting this with the environmental difficulties that face plastic banknotes at the end…
Somalia’s governor on rebuilding its central bank
Governor Abdullahi discusses payments systems and reviving Somalia’s war-damaged economy
Are we entering the polymer age?
CCL Secure explores the security and anti-counterfeit benefits of polymer banknote technology. As this developing technology reveals its advantages over traditional paper-based banknotes, could we soon see a shift in the status quo in polymer’s favour?
Currency initiative: The ECB and US Federal Reserve’s CDI2 standards
The pair has created an important new technical standard to support more efficient cash management