Banknotes and national identity in central and eastern Europe

This paper provides an account of the imagery portrayed on the banknotes that have been issued in central and eastern Europe during the 1990s. In doing so, it highlights the methodological complexity of undertaking such research, and emphasises the need for the development of a rigorously compiled database that can then be used to draw comparisons between the imagery of different states. Banknotes are more than simply economic phenomena, and they provide an important expression of the cultural and political identities that have helped to shape the nations in the past. Four main conclusions are drawn: first, it is these past identities that continue to dominate the construction of national identity today; second, the imagery associated with such national identity is mainly representative of masculine identities; third, it is mainly portraits of key historic personalities that dominate the imagery; and fourth, a wide range of differing mechanisms have been used to generate these images.