People love banknotes. People also love art and history. Put these together and you get one of the most successful novelty note business ever. The Zero Euro Banknote Collector Series has brought special collectable notes to a whole new generation of collectors.
Source: euronotesouvenir
Origin of the Zero Euro
People have collected specialty coins at museums and other historical sites. There are even the flattened coin with an embossing related to the location where the hand crank machine was located. Kids love these. In 2015, Richard Faille was able to work with an ECB accredited banknote printer to pre print 75% of the Zero Euro note to make it look like a banknote. An area was left open to post-print an image or scene to be personalized for the event or location that bought them. The company that prints these has also made available vending machines to sell the notes for 2 Euros or 3 Euros each.
Source: Banknote World
Features
In addition, what really differentiates the Zero Euro collectible notes from other Novelty notes is that the paper is based on a security paper, the printing is done on banknote printing equipment and these notes contain a number of banknote security features. Also the notes have a watermark, a metal thread, raised printing, a hologram, see through registered feature, UV fluorescent ink and a unique serial number. Other than the value, these notes could pass for real banknotes to someone not paying attention.
The pre printed images on the Zero Euro highlight famous landmarks in some of Europe’s most popular cities:
- Big Ben in London
- The Eiffel Tower in Paris
- Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
- The Colosseum in Rome
- The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
- The Watermark is Mona Lisa
In the latest Zero Euro series, Big Ben is no longer in use.
Other Variations
Source: Banknote World
Dozens of designs are commercially available and also there are probably many more private series. There are nice series of FIFA footballers and of Formula 1 sites. Also in 2017, a Zero Euro note was printed for Voltarium with a cute mouse flying a jumbo jet. Very nice! Every collector of European locations, culture or history can probably find a note that fits their collection.
