Designing and producing banknotes is a difficult task
It requires a considerable amount of work to design and produce a new banknote, let alone a new series of banknotes. The appearance, patterns, images, and placement of features need to be determined to increase security in the handling of banknotes and to make counterfeiting more difficult. The current series of banknotes in Iceland was put into circulation at the beginning of 1981. The Central Bank prepares the issuance of banknotes in consultation with the relevant minister. The design of the current banknote series was managed by Kristín Þorkelsdóttir and Stephen Fairbairn.
Who decides on the images that appear on the banknotes?
According to law, the Central Bank of Iceland has the exclusive right to have banknotes made and issued and to have metal money minted and issued. However, it is the minister in charge of the bank’s affairs who decides, upon receipt of a proposal from the Central Bank, on the type, shape, appearance and price of banknotes that the bank has made and issues. The Central Bank shall also have metal coins minted to satisfy the normal need for change at any given time, but the Minister must approve their type and shape.
Who are the people pictured on the banknotes?
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- On the front of the ten thousand krona note is a picture of Jonas Hallgrímsson, poet and naturalist (1807-1845).
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- On the five thousand krona note there is a picture of Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir, an embroiderer (1646-1715), but there is also a picture of her husband, Bishop Gísli Þorláksson, and his two previous wives, Gróa Þorleifsdóttir and Ingibjörg Benediktsdóttir. On the reverse side of the note is a picture of Ragnheiður and two fellow embroiderer women.
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- On the front of the two thousand krona note is a picture of the painter John S. Kjarval (1885-1972).
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- The thousand krona banknote displays a picture of Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson (1605-1675) on the front.
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- On the front side of the five hundred krona banknote there is a picture of Jón Sigurðsson, President of the Althing (1811-1879), and on the back there is a picture of Jón writing.
Is the money real?
Trust and faith are required for the monetary system to function well. One aspect of this is to design banknotes in such a way that people trust that they are authentic and truly reflect their stated value. To achieve this goal, banknotes are designed in such a way that it is difficult to counterfeit them. One of the first security features of this kind was a handwritten signature on the banknote. In Iceland it is the name of the Governor of the Central Bank that is on the banknote. There are many other security features on each banknote, such as metal foil, metal thread or other security threads, watermarks, plastic, micro-images or micro-printing, embossed printing, parts of the banknote that change colour under a specific type of light, and the paper from which the banknote is made is of a special type, in addition to the fact that plastic materials are now used in the banknotes to a greater extent than before to better ensure their durability. There is a special number in two places on each banknote. In addition, there is a Braille symbol on each banknote so that the visually impaired and blind can use the banknotes more easily.
Security features are also present in coins, although this may not seem as obvious today. Ripples on the edges of coins are certainly a security feature. In the old days, it was considered profitable to simply scrape the metal off the coins. Unscrupulous individuals could therefore obtain silver if they handled many silver coins. The images on the coins are also a security feature, as well as their metal content, of course.
How did banknotes come into being in the first place?
Although the first banknotes are believed to have appeared in China in the seventh century AD, it was not until the predecessor of the Swedish Central Bank, Stockholms Banco, issued banknotes in 1661 that banknote issuance as we know it today began.
It started with people going to the bank with copper plates, which were the means of payment at the time in Stockholm, and in return receiving banknotes, which they could use in a much more convenient way in transactions than the copper plates, which could be heavy and bulky.
The notes were therefore a credit note on the copper in the bank and at the same time a debt of the bank to the holder (owner) of the note.
It was from this that the issuance of modern banknote developed. The Swedish Central Bank, Sveriges Riksbank, was then founded on the basis of Stockholms Banco in 1668 and is considered the oldest central bank.
What is numismatics?
Numismatics deals with any form of currency issued by companies and institutions. The subjects of numismatics also include related items, such as commemorative coins, honorary coins and medals. Numismatics deals with the history and analysis of these items.
Numismatics (from the Greek word nomisma = coin) is a branch of cultural history and an important supporting branch of other disciplines, such as general history and archaeology, and is in many ways related to heraldry.
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