Banknotes

The Currency Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network issues banknotes of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 credits. The five notes of the First Series, announced on 6 September 2026, are the first designed by the Office itself and enter circulation between 5 October and 7 December 2026. Until then, and for a year afterwards, the notes in use are those of the Interim Issue, which carries no 100 credit note.

Every First Series note is printed on cotton-fibre paper with a protective varnish. The notes increase in size with denomination, by six millimetres in length and two in width from one to the next, so that they can be told apart by size alone. Each has a distinct dominant colour and a motif drawn from the sites and structures of the Network, with the name of the Network and the denomination in words along the top edge of the front.

4.19m

Notes of the Interim Issue in circulation at close of business on 5 September 2026

61.2m

Face value, in credits, of the notes in circulation at that date

5

Denominations of note in the First Series, from 5 to 100 credits

9

Security features carried by every note of the First Series

Specifications. The table below records the dimensions, colour and motif of each note of the First Series and the date on which it enters circulation. The reverse of every note carries a pattern of interlocking channels, the denomination numeral in large figures and the see-through register.

Issues of banknotes. The Network has had two issues of banknotes. The chronology below records them and the dates by which each denomination of the First Series replaces its Interim counterpart in the Office's issue.

1. 10 August 2026

   Interim Issue

   Notes of 5, 10, 20 and 50 credits, printed under contract before the Office existed and issued under transitional arrangements. Interim notes are printed in a single colour on plain paper and carry four security features: a watermark, a security thread, a serial number and ultraviolet fibres.

2. 5 October 2026

   First Series: 5 and 10 credit notes

   The first notes designed by the Office. From this date the Office issues only First Series notes of these denominations and withdraws Interim 5 and 10 credit notes as they are returned to it.

3. 2 November 2026

   First Series: 20 and 50 credit notes

   The two denominations that account for two thirds of the value of notes in circulation. Their issue brings all denominations of the Interim Issue within the withdrawal programme.

4. 7 December 2026

   First Series: 100 credit note

   The first note of that denomination in the Network. It is issued in a smaller quantity, for high-value payments, and carries an additional colour-shifting element within the security thread.

5. 30 September 2027

   Interim notes cease to be legal tender

   Interim notes are exchanged at face value at the Office's counters without limit of time thereafter.

Security features. Each note of the First Series carries the nine features below. No single feature is conclusive; a genuine note has all of them, and a note lacking any one should be treated as suspect. The first five features can be checked without equipment by feeling, looking at and tilting the note.

Watermark

The main motif of the note and its denomination numeral, formed in the paper and visible from both sides when the note is held to the light. The watermark has soft edges and shows gradations of tone; a printed imitation appears flat and is visible without backlighting.

Windowed security thread

A metallic thread woven into the paper. On the front of the note it appears as a broken silver line; held to the light it becomes a continuous dark line carrying the denomination in small letters.

Colour-shifting numeral

The denomination numeral at the lower right of the front changes from gold to green as the note is tilted. On the 100 credit note the security thread also shifts colour.

Raised print

The main motif, the name of the Network and the denomination in words are printed in raised ink that can be felt with a fingertip, most clearly at the lettering along the top edge.

Tactile marks

Raised bars at each short edge identify the denomination by touch: one bar on the 5 credit note, two on the 10, three on the 20, four on the 50 and five on the 100.

See-through register

A partial numeral printed on each side of the note. Held to the light, the two parts combine to form the complete denomination numeral without any gap or overlap.

Microtext

The name of the Network repeated in letters legible only under magnification, within the border of the main motif. In a counterfeit the letters blur or run together.

Ultraviolet features

Under ultraviolet light the paper remains dull while fibres embedded in it, the serial numbers and a band across the reverse fluoresce. Ordinary paper glows brightly under the same light.

Serial numbers

Two serial numbers, one horizontal and one vertical, printed in different sizes but identical in value. The first letter identifies the denomination and no two notes of a denomination carry the same number.

Interim notes carry only the watermark, security thread, serial numbers and ultraviolet features described above, in simpler form. Because they are easier to imitate, the Office asks that Interim 20 and 50 credit notes in particular be checked with care until they are withdrawn. Guidance on checking a suspect note and on reporting it is set out on the Counterfeit Reporting page.

The number and value of notes in circulation, by denomination, are published on the Notes and Coins in Circulation page. For the exchange of damaged notes and the withdrawal of the Interim Issue, see Damaged and Withdrawn Currency. Enquiries about the design or specifications of the notes may be sent to contact@currency.gov.vin.