Banco de España - Banknotes and Coins Glossary

Banknotes and Coins Glossary

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Main obverse motif: Doors and windows appear on the obverse of euro banknotes, symbolising Europe's spirit of openness and co-operation.
Main reverse motif: The reverse side of euro banknotes features a bridge as a metaphor for communication among the people of Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world. The design of Euro banknotes show different architectural styles that correspond to seven eras of European cultural history: Classic, Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Rococo, the iron and glass architectural eras and modern 20th century architecture.
Metamerism: The effect produced by materials apparently of the same colour under a certain light, while under another light, for example daylight, they show decidedly different colours. Metamerism is a well-known phenomenon in clothes shops, for those who want to imitate the colour of one fabric with that of an existing fabric. The colours should not only be compared under the artificial light of the shop, but also in daylight. Colour photocopiers do not reproduce such metameric effects. Metamerism is usually used on banknotes.
Micro-text or micro-printing: This is the printing of a text with very small characters. Graphic characters in two reduced sizes appear on different areas of euro banknotes. Most people can see the text printed with 0.8mm high characters with the naked eye, whereas the 0.2mm high characters appear to be a thin line, although they can be read with a magnifying glass. Micro-printing offers protection against photocopying systems.
Moiré: The effect produced by regular reticular images placed on top of each other. If the original image contains linear images with interlinear frequency in the order of line frequency of the screen applied, a moiré effect will appear. Readers, including colour photocopiers, read the image that they have to copy with miniscule photoelectric cells. If the original image contains linear structures with the same interlinear frequency as the photoelectric cells, the copy will also show a moiré structure.
Monetary income: Income accruing to national central banks in the performance of the Eurosystem's monetary policy function. It derives from the assets held on its balance sheet as a balancing entry against banknotes in circulation and credit institution margin deposits. The monetary income obtained by each national central bank, referred to as "seignorage income", is pooled and redistributed among these at each year-end, in accordance with their share in the ECB's paid-up capital.
Multicolour printing: See four-colour printing.