Euro banknotes euro banknotes are supposedly more durable than the first series banknotes. Reinhold Gerstetter, an independent banknote designer, was chosen by the European Central Bank to redesign the euro notes. Due to the great number of historic bridges, arches, and gateways throughout the European continent, all the structures represented on the notes are entirely stylised illustrations of the relevant architectural styles, designed to evoke the landmarks within the European Union, representing various European ages and styles. For example, the 5 euro note has a generic rendition of Classical architecture, the 10 euro note of Romanesque architecture, the 20 euro note of
Euro banknotes exclusive right to authorise the issue of notes within the Eurozone, but most notes are actually issued by the National Central Banks (NCBs) of the Eurozone. As of 2004, 8% of banknotes issues were allocated to the European Central Bank and 92% were allocated to Eurozone NCBs (in practice, the ECB issues no notes and the NCBs' issues may deviate from the statutory allocation). The issuing central bank can be seen from the serial number. Each NCB is now responsible for the production of certain denominations, as assigned by the ECB. Since 2002, euro notes have been printed by the