# Is it illegal to write on a Euro Note?



## Ris (11 May 2011)

Can anyone tell me if it is legal/illegal to write a message on a Euro bank note? I did a small bit of research and the 1930 Currency Act mentions that there is a fine of no more than £5 (which is no longer our legal tender) and I cant seem to find any amendment to that in the 1990 Decimal Currency Act but maybe Im not looking in the right place?

Any info/advice would be great. Thanks a million


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## Panacea (11 May 2011)

*Currency: EURO €*

*Countries:*
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France (including French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and the French Southern and Antarctic Territories), Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Vatican City 

*Languages:*
Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish

*Official bank or department:*
European Central Bank 

*Contact information:*
High-resolution banknote images for professional users
Legal framework

*Links:*
Decision ECB/2003/4 of 20 March 2003 on the denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (OJ L 78, 25.3.2003, p. 16)

Guideline ECB/2003/5 of 20 March 2003 on the enforcement of measures to counter non-compliant reproductions of euro banknotes and on the exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (OJ L 78, 25.3.2003, p. 20)

Low dpi banknote images


*General information about the reproduction of banknotes:*
*It is an offence to deface this currency.*

Reproductions of this currency must not be shown in a context that may cause offence (e.g. as part of pornographic or violent material). Reproductions are also prohibited insofar as they infringe copyright rules attached to the euro banknotes.

Article 1 of Guideline ECB/2003/5 sets out the criteria for non-compliant reproductions and Article 2 of Decision ECB/2003/4 sets out the criteria for unlawful reproductions of euro banknotes. Such reproductions of euro banknotes are in principle not allowed. Article 2(3) of the Decision sets out the criteria for reproductions that are deemed lawful and for which no approval is foreseen. For cases that do not meet these criteria, confirmation of compliance with the reproduction rules must be sought.

*Reproduction in printed media:*
There are some limitations. Limitations concerning the size vary, for example, depending on whether the reproduction is one or two-sided. Generally, for a reproduction to be lawful, the rules set out in Decision ECB/2003/4 and Guideline ECB/2003/5 must be complied with.

*Reproduction in electronic media:*
For publicly accessible digital images, a banknote may be reproduced if both the following criteria are met:

The resolution of the image is 72 dpi or less.
The word “SPECIMEN” is printed diagonally across the reproduction in a contrasting colour – the length of the word “SPECIMEN” must be at least 75% of the length of the reproduction and the height of the characters must be at least 15% of the width of the reproduction.


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## Meathman99 (12 May 2011)

So are those shops that use a counterfeit detection pen committing an offense?


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## Ris (13 May 2011)

Thanks for that Panacea

So if I read that correctly, it is an offence to _*deface *_the currency. Going a step further the definition of deface is to mar the surface of or disfigure, to efface, obliterate, or injure the surface of, as to make illegible or invalid: 

So if writing a message would not make a Euro note illegible, then it's likely that a charge would not stand up in court? It does seem to be a grey area, at the least.


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