Award-Winning Money

On an earlier trip I wrote that the Bank of Mexico was going to issue a new fifty peso banknote.

In this giant mock-up of the new bill at the Museum of the Bank of Mexico, you see that the front side features the Mexican emblem of the eagle and the serpent with a view of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in the background.  The reverse shows the canals of Xochimilco on the south side of Mexico City and an "axolotl", an endangered species of salamander that lives in those waterways.

I saw an article on the internet recently that said that the International Banknote Society has awarded the Mexican 50 peso bill the honor of Banknote of the Year.  Only twenty new banknotes from around the world were deemed attractive enough to be in the competition.  Second place went to the African nation of Sao Principe and Principe, and third place was a tie between Costa Rica and the U.K.

And I am STILL waiting to get this bill from an ATM or in my change!