Elena was on holiday in France and bought a €0 banknote there. The banknote has all genuine security features: watermarks, a hologram, a serial number, writes Myfin.
Zero-euro banknotes appeared in 2015. They were invented by French entrepreneur Richard Faille.
According to his idea, tourist attractions can receive such banknotes with an image of a landmark and sell them as souvenirs. For example, Elena's banknote depicts a fragment of Paleolithic cave painting. That banknote is dedicated to an archaeological site — the Cosquer Cave in France.
Interestingly, the banknotes are printed by the French company Oberthur Technologies — one of the official partners of the European Central Bank for euro production.
They have been produced under license from the European Central Bank since 2015 on the same cotton paper as real money.
The only difference in souvenir banknotes is their zero denomination.
What to do with €0
Of course, you cannot pay with such banknotes. But there are ways to make money from them.
Zero-euro notes are issued in small editions (3–10 thousand), which makes them interesting for collectors. However, demand heavily depends on what is depicted on them and which landmark they represent.
A banknote for the anniversary of a museum opening in a small town might go unnoticed. But banknotes featuring Marx, Mozart, or Gaudí attract much more attention.
Souvenir euros can be found in numismatic communities, on eBay, and even on Kufar. For example, a banknote similar to Elena's is priced at €6 on eBay.
Rare editions can be sold for €20–30.
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