Georgia’s 50 GEL Banknote Nominated at Oscars of Paper Currency

Georgia’s 50 GEL banknote, which shows the image of Queen Tamar, has been nominated for the Oscars of Paper Currency 2016.

The contest was announced by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS), which was founded in 1961 by a group of people who collected, traded, sold, and admired rare paper currency.

Bloomberg reports that initially IBNS was a small community and for decades its activities extended to a trade journal, a membership directory, an annual mail-bid auction, and networking events. But the rare-coin trade was growing into what the Professional Numismatists Guild estimates to be a USD 5 billion business.

The first annual “Banknote of the Year” was held in 2005. Since then it has been held annually and the voters are members of the IBNS who chose the one banknote with the best combination of artistry and security.

Among the nominees are entries from England, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, the Maldives and Georgia, whose 50 GEL note is full of medieval iconography, ”has a holographic stripe and a magenta-to-green security thread.”

”On the front is Queen Tamar, who ruled the country from 1184 to 1213, a period known as the Georgian Golden Age,” the article in Bloomberg reads.

IBNS says that nominations for the Banknote of the Year award will be accepted up to the 31 January 2017.

Throughout February, IBNS members will evaluate each nomination against the core criteria of the Banknote of the Year award, and select their favorite.

Each member of the IBNS will have a single vote for Banknote of the Year award. In the event of a tie, the IBNS President will have the casting vote.

Designs that take advantage of modern security features will be well considered, taking into account the issuing authority and the value of the note.

The winner of the Banknote of the Year award will be announced at the first board meeting. The winning entry will appear on the IBNS website and in the IBNS Journal.

Thea Morrison