€500 EUR note & bill

The €500 banknote was not included in the Europa series and as of 27 April 2019 is no longer being issued.

The ECB and national central banks of the euro area have decided to end the production and issuance of the €500 banknote, so it is not included in the Europa series. However, the €500 note of the first series will always retain its value.

Initials of the European Central Bank

The first series of banknotes show the initials of the European Central Bank in five linguistic variants – BCE ECB EZB EKT EKP – reflecting the languages of the countries which were part of the euro area when the single currency was introduced.

Map of Europe

Notes from the first series excluded islands of less than 400 square kilometres. Why? Because high-volume offset printing did not permit the accurate reproduction of small design elements.

“Euro” in different alphabets

The name of the currency is shown in the Latin (EURO) and Greek (EYPΩ) alphabets.

Architectural style

The €500 banknote shows 20th century architecture from 1930 onwards.

Signatures

Banknote bear the signature of either Willem F. Duisenberg, Jean-Claude Trichet or Mario Draghi – the first, second and third Presidents of the European Central Bank respectively.

€500 EUR

Banknotes are produced using sophisticated printing technology and their security features make them easy to distinguish from counterfeits. The security features differ depending on the banknote: the €500 banknote has a hologram patch on the front and a colour-changing number on the back.

Raised print

Feel the banknote. The main image, the lettering and the large value numeral feel thicker.

Watermark

Hold the banknote against the light. On the left side a copy of the main image appears, together with the number 500.

Security thread

Keep holding the banknote against the light. In the middle of the banknote there is a dark line – the security thread. The word "EURO" and the value of the banknote can be seen in tiny white lettering in that line.

See-through number

Look at the banknote against the light. The marks printed in the top-left corner on the front and the top-right corner on the back of the banknote combine perfectly to form the value of the banknote.

Hologram

Tilt the banknote. The hologram patch shows the value of the note and a window or doorway.

Color-changing number

Tilt the banknote. The number 500 on the back changes colour from purple to olive green or brown.