EuroBillTracker

I mean: notes that didn't have to pass any bank clerk nor any cash centre. Notes taken from CRMs were deposited there directly by individual citizens.

I also checked my EBTCheck's Notes Explorer for the previous years:

2020 — 1 out of 17 at a café, the rest from CRMs
2019 — 3 out of 17 at supermarkets, the rest from CRMs
2018 — 4 out of 68 in cafés, 2 in Amsterdam (from Elmo directly , and at the airport), 2 from ATMs, the rest from CRMs (including some dumps of several notes at a time, like 18 notes once or 14 notes another time)

The last time I got an old fiver in an ATM, it was more than four years ago (2018-03-21).

Interesting, thanks for that. And that reminded me I could use the excellent EBTCheck myself!

The previous old fiver I had registered was this one (2020/07, the only one of the year). Unfortunately, stamping it with the EBT URL has not made it a hit-note thus far. It probably sped up its destruction.

Surprisingly and according to Wikipedia, the remaining old €10 notes are now less than the remaining €5 (9.6% of the total circulating €10s are still old series compared to 13.1% of the €5s according to the latest official figures). The fact that the €5s got replaced a year before the €10's makes this figure even more bizarre.
There must be a forgotten stash somewhere. At my local supermarket in suburban Athens I received an almost pristine P005/Y0055 Duisenberg €5 as change a few days back. It must have been handled by 5 people max, it was in unbelievable condition for its age. I stood on the side to arrange my bags, and I overheard the cashier telling the customer after me "I'm sorry about all these small notes", I look over and I see her handing 5 or 6 similar old €5's (probably €25 or €30 worth as part of change for a €50).
Who knows.
I registered mine and spent it a little later.

Thanks for bringing that up, YCNZ!

The official circulation figures are here: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_ ... ex.en.html

It's simply outlandishly incorrect that 12.8% of fivers and 9.3% of tenners in circulation ⁽¹⁾ are from the 1st series.

If I'm not wrong, these figures are not statistical but derived from the totals of emmited minus redeemed. That being the case, all banknotes that are kept, forgotten or lost — without ever reaching a central bank — will be included in the number of those computed by the ECB as "in circulation".

Just like a lot of pre-euro currency banknotes were never exchanged to euros, there must be a lot of 1st series euro banknotes that will never be returned to central banks. (For example, pesetas equivalent to 1 575 million euros, which amounts to more than 3% of all pesetas in circulation in December 2001, were never exchanged until the end of the exchange calendar 19 years later. Source: "El fin de la peseta", article in Economía Digital.)

In reality, as every EBTor can experience, 1st series banknotes are becoming really rare. Take for example the heavy-duty Frankfurt user taucher's stats: out of their 50k+ fivers and tenners registered this year, 3 or less were from the 1st series). Or take the combined stats of all EBTors using EBTCheck: only 2.2% of all to banknotes entered this year were from the 1st series — and we all know that these are much more prevalent in higher denominations.

Portugal is one of the Euro Area countries where most 1st series banknotes, can still be found in circulation (in percentage of all banknotes circulating in the country). Still, #1 Portuguese EBTor Leofer40's stats show that only 2.7% of his non-500-euros banknotes entered in 2022 were from the 1st series. My own stats show that only 0.4% of all fivers and tenners that I registered this year were from the 1st series (11 + 26 ∕ 3 124 + 5 852). [Also: 2.1%, 13.3%, 3.1%, 20.4%.]


_________________________
⁽¹⁾ May 2022 banknotes in circulation (1st series ∕ total), according to the ECB:
263 997 782 ∕ 2 060 275 313
270 800 535 ∕ 2 905 771 854

I once read (but I can't find the source) that in all currencies, the note with the lowest value behaves differently. When shopkeepers put their notes in the bank, they tend to keep the 5-euro notes in the cash register. The lowest value banknotes therefore behave more like coins than notes. This may explain why the 2002 5-euro notes are destroyed less quickly by banks than the 2002 10-euro notes.

Out of my +400 bills, I've only gotten myself across 4 of the 2002 series, all fivers
Got each one from my street's bakery, the sweets shop in my neighborhood, a bar frequented by old people, and a pharmacy; respectively

Older notes are more common outside the country (or EMU in this case). So in Kosovo, Montenegro and elsewhere in the Balkans. Most of those I found were from immigrants.

^ Interesting! So I guess that must happen as the result of a conscious decision, and not just due to chance (ie. the ECB/banks are sending them older bills)?

No, the Eurozone banks destroy the old notes ant create new ones instead. The Balkan countries cannot create euro notes. So if they destroying their old notes, they would lose all their money ^^

Assuming there are still 100 old series remaining €5s that have not been officially collected, accounted for and destroyed yet, I can only assume the following percentages:

About 10% are saved by collectors / dealers etc for resale etc, usually in UNC condition
About 20% are saved by individuals as parts of small private collections or framed / pinned on walls as souvenirs, tips etc.
About 15% are lost / destroyed forever (burned, buried, eaten, you name it), without being accounted for by any bank or any authority. Say, if a car of a house is destroyed in a fire, we will never know if there were 1000 5's inside.
About 10% are still hidden in bank vaults, or in some cases, some old / forgotten currency exchanges worldwide. I once changed € to $ in some random exchange booth in Washington DC and got back 3 $50's of the 1977 series and 4 of the 1985. This happened in 2016. I also reported here not too long ago about a cashier at a supermarket here in Athens giving out change in almost uncirculated 2002 Greek 5's. That was less than a year ago.
About 20% are still in circulation (mainly in most remote areas, or, having been circulated recently such as the 5's I talked about above.
About 10% may have been printed but for some reason never released
About 15% are in pockets, books, forgotten for ever waiting to be discovered God knows when, or safely hidden to places known only to deceased people

Total 100%. Feel free to adjust any percentage or add any other reason you may think of.
I would say that this applies to lower denominations (5, 10, 20). For anything bigger than that there are different reasons / percentages. A mafia boss would never save a substantial quantity of 5's.

That was an interesting read. I find this estimate to be a little bit high haha:

YCNZ wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:24 am About 10% may have been printed but for some reason never released

On the previous matter:

Hubert.bdlb wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 2:36 pm No, the Eurozone banks destroy the old notes ant create new ones instead. The Balkan countries cannot create euro notes. So if they destroying their old notes, they would lose all their money ^^

I'm aware of everything you said there. However, it should be noted that, when it comes to the Balkans, there are two very specific cases: Kosovo and Montenegro - they are unilateral adopters of our currency. I can't say anything about the latter but the former should have some sort of official agreement with the ECB to send them bills and coins, as the EU was the first political entity to recognize their independence and they were using the D-mark before the euro.

That's why I used the words the "are ECB/banks are sending them older bills?" Because it's entirely possible older bills are being set aside to be sent to Kosovo.

I do not know what kind of regulation the Banco de España has in place here in Spain, but even if the old fivers are not as common as they were, you can still find some of them as change. I even managed to get one in pristine condition: https://es.eurobilltracker.com/notes/?id=225593977
In total I have managed to get 3 fivers out of all the ones I have registered these past 10 months since I started in EBT.
https://es.eurobilltracker.com/notes/?id=223619871
https://es.eurobilltracker.com/notes/?id=223619871

Montgomery Burns wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 12:41 pm That was an interesting read. I find this estimate to be a little bit high haha:

YCNZ wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:24 am About 10% may have been printed but for some reason never released

On the previous matter:

Hubert.bdlb wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 2:36 pm No, the Eurozone banks destroy the old notes ant create new ones instead. The Balkan countries cannot create euro notes. So if they destroying their old notes, they would lose all their money ^^

I'm aware of everything you said there. However, it should be noted that, when it comes to the Balkans, there are two very specific cases: Kosovo and Montenegro - they are unilateral adopters of our currency. I can't say anything about the latter but the former should have some sort of official agreement with the ECB to send them bills and coins, as the EU was the first political entity to recognize their independence and they were using the D-mark before the euro.

That's why I used the words the "are ECB/banks are sending them older bills?" Because it's entirely possible older bills are being set aside to be sent to Kosovo.

I doubt it. I’m part of a community of euro coin collectors and we recently got a new member from Kosovo. We talked a bit and from what we could tell, 2002 notes are just as common there as they are here, with them mostly existing in the savings of people that got them in the past. Interestingly, Kosovo seems to also be absolutely full of counterfeit coins

Hello,

Two weeks ago, I was pleasantly shocked to get an old from the cash dispenser . Not an hit though.

I only started entering bills starting on 2023, and I think that was actually the third or fourth from the 2002 series. The 26k+ I entered here in France were from the Europa series.

My two cents,
Jazzdream