The world's most beautiful banknotes of 2025 have been announced—the Kyrgyz KGS did not make the shortlist

The International Banknote Society (IBNS) has announced the results of the 2025 Banknote of the Year competition, which has been held since 2004 and is considered one of the world’s leading awards in the field of paper money design. The winner was the 200-guilder banknote of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, and the 17 nominees included banknotes from Asia, Europe, Africa, and island nations.

First place went to a banknote with a maritime theme—featuring seahorses and the Queen Emma Bridge on the reverse side. Second place went to the 5-dollar bill from Fiji, and third place to the 100-kwacha bill from Zambia. The top five also included the 5-pound note from the Falkland Islands and the 50-kina note from Papua New Guinea.

The Russian 1,000-ruble banknote was also included on the list of nominees. It was nominated for the competition by IBNS member Radek Januszek.

This marks Russia’s return to the list of nominees after an eight-year hiatus. The last time a Russian banknote was submitted to the IBNS was in 2017. This is particularly symbolic given the international sanctions currently in place against Russia.

For Central Asia, the theme of the competition is also familiar. Kazakhstan remains one of the most successful participants in the history of the IBNS, having won the competition three years in a row—in 2011, 2012, and 2013. This achievement remains unique.

Kyrgyzstan did not make the 2025 ranking—the country’s last nomination was in 2024 with a new 5,000-KGS banknote, introduced into circulation in May 2024.

Kyrgyzstan has been nominated a total of four times in the history of the competition:

• 2009 — The 5,000-KGS banknote featuring Suimenkul Chokmorov became the first Kyrgyz banknote to be nominated for the competition. It was nominated by IBNS lifetime member Thomas Augustsson.
• 2017 — the vertical 2,000-KGS banknote featuring Manas was nominated. It was nominated by IBNS member Marie-Anne Snell.
• 2023 — the redesigned 500-KGS banknote featuring Sayakbay Karalaev was nominated. It was nominated by IBNS member Vitaly Khashchak.
• 2024 — The new 5,000-KGS banknote with modernized security features was added to the list. It was nominated by IBNS member Yevgeny Tolchinsky.