Facsimile Gold Plated Foil, 1st Series , lovely replacement for the circulating 5 Euro banknote.
The euro was founded on 1 January 1999, when it became the currency of over 300 million people in Europe. For the first three years of its existence it was an invisible currency, only used in accountancy. Euro cash was not introduced until 1 January 2002, when it replaced the national banknotes and coins of the countries in euro zone 12, such as the Irish pound and the Austrian schilling. Slovenia joined the Euro zone in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011 and Latvia on 1 January 2014.
The five euro note (€5) is the lowest value euro banknote and has been used since the introduction of the euro in its cash form in 2002.
Measuring 120 x 62 mm, it is the smallest of the euro notes, and has a grey color scheme. The five euro banknotes depict bridges and arches/doorways in Classical architecture (up to the fifth century). The five euro note contains several complex security features such as watermarks, invisible ink, holograms and micro-printing that document its authenticity.
All notes of the 1st series bear the European flag, a map of the continent on the reverse, the name "euro" in both Latin and Greek script (EURO / ΕΥΡΩ) and the signature of a president of the ECB. The 12 stars from the flag are also incorporated into every note.
The notes also carry the acronyms of the name of the European Central Bank in five linguistic variants, covering all official languages of the EU in 2002.
The first series banknotes were replaced by the Europa series, starting with the 5 euro note on 2 May 2013.