The Central Bank of Azerbaijan seems to be making a concerted effort to make the most attractive and secure series of banknotes. It is issuing a new 50 Manat with advanced security features, along with an upgrade to its 1 and 5 Manat. The 10 was upgraded in 2019 and is a beautiful banknote with a map of ancient Baku on the front along with a color shift number and holographic effect. The new 50 has a theme of “Education and the Future”. Young schoolchildren are shown on the front along with motifs of school buildings. From a security perspective, it has a holographic stripe made up of micromirrors. The effect is striking. There is also a large color shifting ‘50’. The holographic stripe can be seen on the reverse also. And the watermark shows a well-defined Coat of Arms. The reverse is also oriented in the portrait position making it unusual.
Azerbaijan appears to prefer G&D and SICPA materials and security features. The designers do a great job integrating the features into their themes and designs. Those designs include very detailed and complex offset lines and colors. This new 50 Manat has to be one of the hardest notes to simulate.
The 200 Manat, that was upgraded in 2018 has a similar level of security features. The front is even more beautiful and interesting. The front has a large image of the Heydar Aliyev Center which has a sweeping curved roof and lines.
The 100 Manat seems next on the list to be upgraded. We can assume, the designers are hard at work to integrate what they have learned from the latest upgrades and make an award-winning new note.