CURRENCY
Come January 1, the euro becomes cold, hard cash. Having existed since 1999 as a virtual currency, used only for transfers between financial institutions, the euro will finally change hands in the form of 50 billion coins and more than 15 billion notes released by the European Central Bank (www.ecb.int). By March 1, the unit will completely replace the French franc, the lira, the deutsche mark, and nine other European currencies.
As straightforward as it may appear, the euro boasts all the latest anticounterfeiting security features and focus-group think. Here's a look at the new money.
1. European Union flag.
2. Initials of the European Central Bank in various languages.
3. Three members of the European Union - Denmark, Sweden, and Great Britain - have opted not to replace their currencies, though euros will be accepted as legal tender. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who's pro-euro, has promised a British assessment of the currency by 2003, or sooner, if economic conditions warrant. The full roster of EU members cashing in their currencies: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.
4. Denominations follow a 1:2:5 ratio. Coins range from 1 euro cent to €2, notes from €5 to €500.
5. The currency name in Roman and Greek letters.
6. Based on the Greek letter epsilon, the euro symbol represents the coming together of nations. Parallel lines are said to represent the stability of the euro - which, since its inception, has decreased 24 percent against the US dollar.
7. Euros were designed on a Power Macintosh by Robert Kalina of the Austrian Central Bank, using Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Freehand. The design, chosen from among 44 submissions, was tested in a focus group of 2,000 cash handlers, including taxi drivers and bank tellers.
8. The front of each euro note denomination shows a stylized building representing one of seven architectural styles (classical, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, iron and glass, modern); the reverse shows a bridge. An engineer ensured that, if the bridges were ever built, all would hold up.
9. Secret code for a certain national central bank - the ECB isn't telling which one.
10. The European Union is undergoing a Y2K-style refit of some 2.2 million vending machines, at a cost of €270 to €500 ($240 to $445) per unit, to accommodate the new notes.
11. Hold bill up to the light: If the denomination fragments don't line up, you've got a fake.
12. A microfilm strip indicates the note's value.
13. An aluminum-backed foil strip (for €5, €10, and €20 notes) or patch (for €50, €100, €200, and €500 notes) carries a one-axis hologram of the euro symbol and note value. Holograms are considered the most difficult feature to fake. So crooks are taking a different tack - German police report a 200 percent increase in counterfeit deutsche marks last year - presumably because fake older bills won't be spotted during the rush to redeem them for euros.
14. Nations outside the EU are also gearing up for the conversion: Foreign currency exchanges in North America and Asia have had euros on hand since last autumn. The Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of six oil-rich Persian Gulf states carefully watching the euro rollout, is preparing to issue its own unified currency by 2010.
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