This page explains how Banknotes.eu documents its articles and lists the credits for the images published on the site.

Editorial sources

Articles give priority to:

  • European Central Bank and Eurosystem pages;
  • national central bank publications;
  • European Union and EUR-Lex material where legal status matters;
  • documented specialist references when they add verifiable context.

Each article ends with the sources used, making it possible to consult the original document and explore the subject further.

Banknote images and ECB rules

Euro banknote images are not ordinary stock photography. They are governed by ECB reproduction rules and by the conditions attached to each file.

Banknote reproductions used in cards and figures come mainly from the ECB’s official image package and carry the specimen marking required for digital distribution. Captions identify the source whenever an article uses a photograph, detail or example from another archive.

Some articles on serial numbers and printer codes include certificate images from Cartamoneta.com, with attribution to the source.

Readers should not treat any image on the site as permission to reproduce banknote images elsewhere without checking the ECB rules directly.

Official ECB specimen image of the front of a Europa-series 20 euro banknote with the required specimen marking.

Official ECB specimen image of a Europa-series 20 euro banknote. The specimen marking and controlled-resolution release are part of the ECB’s image-distribution rules for digital banknote reproductions.

Source: ECB image and reproduction rules page.

Photograph and third-party image credits

Archive photographs and Creative Commons files are credited to the source and author listed below.

The four ECB President portraits on the signatures article are credited individually:

The 0 euro souvenir note in Euro banknote curiosities is credited to KarleHorn, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia file).

The shredded euro banknotes figure in The life cycle of worn euro banknotes is credited to SchmiAlf, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia file).

The 2 euro coin figure in Euro banknotes and euro coins: who issues what is credited to Mark Morgan, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia file).

The design-contest visual used for the future-banknotes card and related news article is credited to the European Central Bank and sourced from the ECB future banknotes page.

The workstation and display-table photographs used on the FAQ and About pages come from Gerardo Vendemia’s archive and are published with his permission.

What to do if you spot an error

If you find an incorrect source, a missing credit or an image that does not follow the rules described here, please report it through the Contact page and name the article concerned.