The China Post staff
The Central Bank of China (CBC) unveiled new NT$500 and NT$1,000 bills yesterday featuring improved anti-forgery features.
The new banknotes will initially be available at Bank of Taiwan while CBC officials said they will be publicly circulated by Lunar New Year.
The current versions of the NT$500 and NT$1,000 banknotes will remain in circulation for another two years. The public will be able take the old bills to any Taiwanese bank to exchange for new ones after they are issued.
The size and thematic design of the new banknotes will remain the same. However, the new NT$500 bill has a slightly darker brown color to distinguish it from the current NT$100 bill. The new NT$1,000 will continue to have the same blue color.
The new banknotes have an improved anti-forgery device featuring a piece of foil membrane on its right front side. CBC officials said it will change colors when viewed from different angles.
CBC officials said they will also step up the campaign to increase public knowledge about how to discern genuine bills from bogus ones. Pamphlets about the new bills will be available to the public at designated public areas such as banks and other financial institutions.