500 euro note 26 April 2019. “Authorities increasingly suspect that they (€500 notes) are being used for illegal purposes, an argument that we can no longer ignore,” according to a high-ranking bank official, Benoît Cœuré. The euro was founded on 1 January 1999, when it became the currency of over 300 million people in Europe. For the first three years of its existence it was an invisible currency, only used in accountancy. Euro cash was not introduced until 1 January 2002, when it replaced the national banknotes and coins of the countries in eurozone 12, such as the Luxembourgish franc. Slovenia joined the
Currency Centre Currency Centre The Currency Centre (also known as the Irish Mint) is the mint of coins and printer of banknotes for the Central Bank of Ireland, including the euro currency. The centre is located at Sandyford, Dublin, Ireland. The centre does not print the complete range of euro banknotes. Other denominations are imported. The centre was designed by the architect Sam Stephenson, for which he won the RIAI Triennial Gold Medal in 1977-1979 and opened for business in 1978. Before the centre was established, Irish coins were produced in the Royal Mint. The first euro coins were minted in the