Giesecke+Devrient is the private half of German euro banknote production. Founded in Leipzig in 1852, it is one of the oldest security printers still working, and the only euro printing house whose single first-series letter later split into two.
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| Printing site | Leipzig; Munich until 2015 |
| First-series printer letter | P |
| Europa-series printer letter | W (Leipzig) · X (Munich) |
| Europa-series control number | 3 (W) · 2 (X) |
| Status | Active in Leipzig |
The Giesecke+Devrient headquarters in Munich. Banknote printing moved to the company’s Leipzig plant after the Munich works closed in 2015.
Leipzig, Munich, Leipzig again
The firm began in Leipzig, moved its centre of gravity to Munich after the Second World War, and returned to Leipzig for banknote manufacturing in the 2000s. It printed part of the German first-series allocation under the letter P, from both plants.
When the Europa series introduced a stricter reading of the production code, each physical site received its own letter: W for Leipzig with control number 3, X for Munich with control number 2. The company then closed banknote printing in Munich in 2015 and concentrated the work in Leipzig, extending that plant the following year.
What the split means for collectors
The consequence is a genuinely finite group. Europa-series notes with a production code starting X could only have been printed in Munich before the plant closed, which puts a hard end date on that letter. The letter W continues to be produced.
Beyond banknotes, the group now describes itself as a security-technology company, working on payment systems, connectivity and digital identity as well as currency.
Reading the code on a note
The initial letter of the production code — P, W or X — identifies the plant. The rest of the code gives the plate number and the sheet position, and the reassignment of letters between the two series is set out in printing offices and printer codes.
