Georgia’s new 100 Lari banknotes released

Modernised 100 GEL (Georgian Lari) banknotes in bright new colours and sizes is coming into circulation around the country.

Meanwhile updated 20 and 50 GEL notes were released in February and all new banknotes currently circulate alongside the old notes.

Extra high-tech security features were added to the new banknotes, making them better protected from fraudulent copying. The bills were also of better quality and had special improved features for visually impaired people.

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) said the new money depicted the same iconic faces but had a vastly different and more vibrant look with additional elements.

During the 20-year history of the Georgian Lari, updating the 20, 50 and 100 GEL banknotes was the first major upgrade of the banknote’s design.

Later the Bank will also modernise the five and 10 GEL banknotes.

Georgia’s vibrant new 20 and 50 GEL banknotes have already gained international recognition after jointly winning the Regional Banknote of the Year 2016 award in Bucharest, Romania.

On March 15 at the High Security Printing Europe conference, the national banks of Georgia and Kazakhstan were awarded the coveted Regional Banknote of the Year 2016 award, sharing the honours for Georgia’s new Lari currency series and Kazakhstan’s 20,000 Tenge banknote.

The award recognised outstanding achievement in design, technical sophistication and security of a banknote or banknote series. (Agenda.ge)