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 (€100, €200, €500) last longer as they are used more for hoarding purposes. The Europa series is designed to last longer than the previous one. The euro came into existence on 1 January 1999. The euro's creation had been a goal of the European Union (EU) and its predecessors since the 1960s. The Maastricht Treaty entered into force in 1993 with the goal of creating economic and monetary union by 1999 for all EU states except the UK and Denmark (though Denmark has a policy of a fixed exchange rate with the euro). In 1999, the currency was born virtually,