5 Euro

The 5 euro was the lowest denomination launched when the eurozone introduced physical currency in January 2002, simultaneously across twelve countries — a logistical operation without precedent in monetary history. Robert Kalina, an Austrian designer working for the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, won the ECB's internal design competition in 1996. His brief was deliberately constrained: architectural motifs only, no real buildings, no real people, to avoid any suggestion of national favoritism.

The 5 is the most heavily circulated note in the euro series and statistically the most frequently counterfeited at the lower end of the range, which drove its early replacement by the Europa series starting in 2013.