Is a euro banknote genuine or counterfeit? This is easy to check, manually or with our app. If you have a suspicious euro banknote, you can hand it in for examination. If the banknote turns out to be genuine, we will pay out the value to you.
Counterfeit notes are easy to recognise. They often lack authenticity features such as the watermark and hologram, or these are poorly replicated. You can feel, look and tilt a banknote to check whether it is genuine, or you can use our “Check je biljet” app, which scans the banknote and checks its authenticity. The app is available on IOS and Android and is free to download from the App Store or Google Play Store.
Finally, many shops use special detection devices to check whether a banknote is genuine.
If you suspect a euro banknote to be a counterfeit, do not accept it – a counterfeit banknote is worthless. Did you accidentally accept a suspicious banknote? Then don't spend it. Do you remember from whom or where you received the banknote? Then file a report with the local police. If you don’t, please contact your bank, or hand the banknote to us for examination. If we find it to be genuine, we will pay you the value. You can hand in suspicious banknotes at our Cash Desk in Amsterdam. You can also send them to us by post.
Do you have one or more suspicious banknotes? If the total amount does not exceed €450, please read on.
If the total amount is more than €450, please click here.
Amounts up to €450
Do you have one or more suspicious banknotes with a total value up to €450? You can hand them in at our Cash Desk for examination. You can also send them to us by post.
By appointment at the Cash Desk
You can schedule an appointment to hand in your banknotes for examination at our Cash Desk in Amsterdam. Call us at +31 20 524 27 27 on Monday to Friday between 9:00 and 12:00. You can complete a form when you visit us, or complete it in advance and bring it with you. Download the form from our website and print it. Complete the form and check that you have filled in everything correctly. If everything is correct, sign the form.
If you visit us, please bring the following with you to the appointment:
We will examine your banknotes and report back to you within four weeks. If our examination shows that the banknotes are genuine, we will pay out the value to you.
By post
You can also submit suspicious banknotes to us by post. Download the form from our website and print it. Complete the form and check that you have filled in everything correctly. If everything is correct, sign the form. Send us the banknotes and the completed and signed form together with
Postal address:
De Nederlandsche Bank
BCM Department
PO Box 98
1000 AB Amsterdam
Please note
Euro banknotes are very well protected against counterfeiting thanks to the authenticity features such as the watermark and hologram. The risk of ending up with a counterfeit banknote is therefore very small indeed. In 2023, some 17,400 counterfeit euro banknotes were detected in the Netherlands. In the checks we carried out, only 1 out of 100,000 notes turned out to be counterfeit.
Read more about the number of counterfeit euro banknotes intercepted inside and outside the euro area.
Form for submitting suspicious banknotes.
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