The Lapwing thousand guilder banknote is one of four notes created by graphic designer Jaap Drupsteen. People had to search for the bird on the note.
© DNB
Can you spot the lapwing and her egg? Perhaps you know the bird better by its Latin name, vanellus vanellus, or by one of its many other names such as peewit, pyewipe or green plover.
DNB provided clues to help people in their quest to find the lapwing on the note. Tips on the reverse of the note read:
The tips were great for those on a quest to find the lapwing, but they also served a more important purpose. DNB included the tips to encourage people to discover the note’s security features: a win-win situation.
The f 1000 Lapwing is one of four guilder banknotes designed by Jaap Drupsteen for DNB. The lapwing note is part of the abstract ornamental series, in which easy recognition of public security features was more important than the notes’ nomenclature. DNB asked Drupsteen to design a new thousand guilder note because the old f 1000 Spinoza (1972) note was becoming easier to counterfeit as technology improved. Even though the new banknote would not be in circulation for long with the euro on the horizon, a new note with high-grade security features was still deemed necessary.
While by no means everyone has ever physically held a thousand guilder banknote, most people in the Netherlands do have personal experience with another of Drupsteen’s creations: he designed the Dutch passport in 1999! You will also recognise Drupsteen’s signature style in the colourful glass façade of the “Beeld & Geluid” media museum in Hilversum.
A poem by Koos van Zomeren is printed in microtext next to the watermark (the f 10 Kingfisher) note also features a poem). Using a magnifying glass you can read:
© DNB
This beautiful ode to a special bird adorned DNB’s final thousand guilder note and protected it against counterfeiting. You can read more about the lapwing with its “quirky crest” online, for example here or here (in Dutch).
The lapwing thousand guilder note was in circulation from 2 April 1996 to 1 January 2002, and it featured DNB president Wim Duisenberg’s signature. This note can still be exchanged for euros at our Cash Desk until 1 January 2032.
A classic portrait from Dutch history, with a contemporary twist. This ten-guilder note shows the face of Frans Hals, one of the most famous Dutch painters of the 17th century.
Read more The Frans Hals f 10 model (1968)
Whenever new guilder designs were created, DNB was always closely involved. Regardless of the denomination, the bank kept a close eye on the designer’s work. After all, the authenticity features were of great importance and as such required great precision. The story of this banknote is about... fingers!
Read more The Spinoza f 1000 model (1972)
Buzz… buzz… buzz! Did you know that banknotes can make noise? By scratching your fingernail over the orange (intaglio) line pattern on the reverse of this f 50 Sunflower banknote, you can hear the sound of a buzzing bee! But is it really a bee?
Read more The Sunflower f 50 model (1982)
‘Cheerfulness, respectability and dignity’, that’s what the new f 250 note from designer R.D.E. (‘Ootje’) Oxenaar was intended to exude. The lighthouse, which was inspired by the one at Haamstede in Zeeland, was a recognisable and identifiable Dutch symbol that perfectly met these DNB requirements.
Read more The Lighthouse f 250 model (1986)
