The Bank of Portugal detected 9,250 false notes in circulation last year, and destroyed €3.6 billion “because they were in poor condition”.
The notes amounted to a total of €326,715 and, compared to the year before, this amount was an improvement.
In 2013, the central bank seized almost over 11,200 notes, totalling €487,850.
The majority of faked notes continue to be €20 and €50, reports BdP.
As for coins, there is no data on whether or not any of these are “faked”, though the BdP has been scrutinising the condition of money and withdrew 250,000 coins from circulation last year on the basis that they too were in poor condition.
As to the location where the Bank actually makes replacement money, that is kept firmly under wraps.
The company in charge, Valora, is held in its totality by the BdP and situated in Carregado, in the borough of Alenquer.
But the “place of production” is kept quiet for “security reasons” and central banks are known to exchange money between themselves. For example, last year BdP is understood to have sent €293 million in notes of various denominations to its European partners, while it received in return a reported €188 million.
