On January 13, the new €10 banknote was unveiled by Yves Mersch, a member of the executive board of the ECB, at a press conference in Frankfurt am Main, and it will start circulating on September 23, 2014. As the European Central Bank (ECB) had stated earlier in the day, the new banknote will be easily recognizable given the fact that it resembles the previous €10 note of the first series. The ECB started circulating the Europa series in March, 2013, when it first introduced the €5 banknote to the market. The Europa series banknotes are being circulated gradually over the years.

The new designs include enhancements on banknote technology so that forgery could be close to impossible. Moreover, the new series of banknotes are designed to be more durable in time and use. Like the new 5€ banknote, the new €10 banknote includes a portrait of Europa – a figure from Greek mythology and the origin of the continent’s name – in the hologram and the watermark. The circulation of the new 10€ banknote will start on September 23, 2014.