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Lapwing f 1000
The Lapwing thousand guilder banknote is one of four notes created by graphic designer Jaap Drupsteen. People enjoyed searching for the bird on the note.
© De Nationale Numismatische Collectie, De Nederlandsche Bank
Lapwing f 1000
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.
Quest
DNB provided clues to help people in their quest to find the lapwing on the note. Tips on the reverse of the note read:
held up to the light, exactly matching parts form a lapwing egg (see-through register)
the text next to the watermark can be read with a magnifying glass (microtext)
the ink on the front is tangible (intaglio printing)
the lapwing in the watermark has light and dark shades (shaded watermark)
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.
New 1,000 guilder note
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.
Passport
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.
Poem
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:
© De Nationale Numismatische Collectie, De Nederlandsche Bank
A poem by Koos van Zomeren is printed in microtext next to the watermark
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.
