€100 Banknote With A "W" Prefix

to the Community!

No problem, thank you!

This is indeed a very interesting find of a first series €100 note.
The letter of the serial number, here ''W,'' is indeed the country code. Initially, the letter ''W'' was assigned to Greece. However, that was changed. Greece got ''Y'' and ''W'' was assigned to Denmark.
As Greece joined the Euro very late (after cooking their books, but that is another story) it is possible that production of ''greek'' €100 began before the letter was changed.
It would be very interesting to know where this note was printed. This information can be found on the right of the star at the 9 o'clock position. Look very closely. A magnifiying glass helps. It should be a letter (the printer), then three digits (the number of the printing plate), then a letter and a number (indicating the position on the printing plate).


The country prefixes were abandoned for the second series.
The letter ''W'' now stands for the company Giesecke & Devrient GmbH and their printing facility in Leipzig. The one in MUnich was closed a few years ago.

Thank you redlock. I have spent the past few days checking out everything you have said and I'm still at a loss as to where this banknote originates from. I received a reply from the Danish Embassy telling me to contact the Danmarkbanken of which I have done. I'm now awaiting a reply from them. I have checked all the known security features using macro lenses and a UV light and they're all there. The note is genuine. I'm still very curious as to know is origin. Thank you everyone so far for your replies. I will keep you all informed as to the reply I may receive

The printer code on the note is P003G2100 and the image I posted was well cropped. Wasn't quite sure how to post the whole picture but if you give me an email address then I will happily send the pictures I have taken including the ones under UV

Ok so I signed up on the Euro Tracker website and put in all the information which was all accepted including the Printer Code, apart from the serial number. It states that the serial number is invalid. So there is something about this banknote that really doesn't make sense to me. I have looked very carefully again at the note and it has every security feature that is either visible or hidden so I'm dumbfounded as to where is has originated from.

Here, P stands for Giesecke & Devrient. Thus, this note was either printed in Munich or Leipzig. Giesecke & Devrient did print series one €100 notes for Greece -- using the prefix ''Y.''
As I said previously, if the note is genuine and it's likely it is, it was probably printed before the country code for Greece was changed from ''W'' to ''Y.'' Perhaps, a test run? Somehow, this note escaped detection.
I think you should contact the ECB in Frankfurt Germany and/or D&G in Munich/Leipzig about it.