From Iceland — No New Money For Ministers

No New Money For Ministers

Published November 27, 2013

The Central Bank of Iceland has decided to end a practice that goes back to the 1950s: dibs on low-digit monetary notes for ministers and bankers.
DV reports that the decision was made after the Central Bank received complaints from money collectors that they have not been able to get their hands on Icelandic monetary notes with low-digit serial numbers.
The reason for this, it turns out, is because traditionally, the introduction of a new paper bill in Iceland also means that some government ministers and banking officials were allowed to have first choice of such bank notes.
With the new release of the 10,000 ISK note (seen above), however, that tradition is coming to an end. “We have to protect equality,” Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson, a spokesperson for the Central Bank, told reporters.
Low-digit bank notes are much sought after by money collectors, and can fetch a price much greater than their print value from other collectors.

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