The new €50, the fourth banknote in the Europa series, starts circulating today, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced.

Marking a further step towards making euro banknotes even more resistant to counterfeiting, its security features include a portrait window near the top of the hologram which becomes transparent when looked at against the light. The window reveals a portrait of Europa, a figure from Greek mythology, which is visible on both sides of the note. The same portrait is also visible in the watermark, alongside the emerald number, which displays an effect of the light moving up and down when the note is tilted. The note also includes raised print for the visually impaired. 

“Even in this digital age, cash remains essential in our economy,” Mario Draghi, President of the ECB said. “A soon-to-be-published survey on cash use, carried out on behalf of the ECB, shows that over three-quarters of all payments at points-of-sale in the euro area are made in cash. In terms of transaction values, that’s slightly more than half.”

The €50 is the most widely used euro banknote denomination. With over 9 billion of them in circulation, they account for 46% of all euro banknotes. The €50 banknotes of the first series will remain legal tender and continue to circulate alongside the new notes and will be gradually withdrawn from circulation.

New €100 and €200 banknotes will be issued at the beginning of 2019.

source: European Central Bank