What data about notes does EBT keep and how do you use it?
Serial number The serial number is found on the reverse of every Euro note. The serial number consists of one letter and 11 digits, or two letters and 10 digits for the new Europa series banknotes. The first letter of the serial number indicates which country was responsible for producing the banknote. It is possible that the banknote was actually printed in some other country than what the serial number signifies, see the printer code section below.
Denomination Uniquely identifies a note in combination with the serial number.
Printer Code The printer code is a small sequence of letters and numbers found on the front of a note. The first letter of the printer code indicates which printing facility printed the note. There are one or two of these per European country and they usually specialise per serial/value. The next three digits identify the plate which was used for printing this bill. The last letter and digit mark the spot of this individual bank note on the printing sheet.
Some statistics about printers can be found in the notes section.
Where exactly can I find the printer code? The printer code is somewhat hidden. It is always printed on the front of the note, the same side where the year is found and not where the serial number is. Look for a very small sequence of letters and digits, e.g. 'R001A1'. * 5 €: in the far left of the colored area, 1cm above the O in EURO * 10 €: in the star, to the top-right of the O in EURO * 20 €: in the leftmost star * 50 €: above the hologram * 100 €: the first word of the text between the window and the stars * 200 €: to the right of the south-western star, written vertically * 500 €: in the leftmost star.
Year of print On the front at the top of every note, there is a year printed next to the abbreviations of the ECB. This year neither represents the year a note was printed nor the year it was designed or put into circulation, rather it looks like this is the year a certain note design was first put into circulation. This currently happens to be 2002 for every bill. Obviously the ECB didn't consider the new Trichet signature was worth an updated 'design version', but this will change once new Euro notes with new security features are put into circulation at some point in the next few years.
Country, City, Postal code This data records the place where this note has been. Typically this is the place where the note has been received by the user or where the user has evidence that the note has been before, whatever makes the most sense in each situation. For most cases, using the place where the note was received is recommended. The comment field can be used to give further details about the route of the note. The location data is used to generate the route a hit note took, but also for statistical data about cities and countries.
Timestamp The exact time a user enters a note is automatically recorded (timestamp). It is used to generate all kinds of time-based statistics and, along with the location data, is used to keep track of the route a note took. In some cases, for example when entering notes you received some time ago, it makes sense for the user to provide the real date in the comment field. If a note becomes a hit later the timestamp may be changed accordingly.
The timestamp is internally stored in Finnish time (EET/EEST), which is one hour ahead of Central European Time. In most cases it is converted to your local time before a date is presented to you, but global time based statistics (e.g., 'Entered notes today') are generated based on Finnish time.
Comment Users can enter anything into the comment field, for example: remarks about the condition of the note, the exact place where the note was found or spent, the story behind the bill and much more.
The comment is visible to everyone who views the note report, but currently no specific statistics are generated from them.
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