1661 in Sweden as the first banknotes in Europe were put into circulation, the Chinese could already look back on about a thousand years of history they invented paper money.
But already they have no real paper used to produce their bills, but they made from a mixture of bark, hemp and rags to make them stronger and more durable.
Similarly, with today's modern banknotes, such as the euro. They are made of cotton, more precisely from the very short hairs of the cotton plant seeds that are incurred in the cotton production as a byproduct. Mixed with various adhesives for secret recipe, from the blank "sheets of paper" for printing the note produced.
While most industrialized countries can afford the cotton bank notes with modern safety features, is in many poorer countries are still "real" paper money in circulation. For about 20 years, there are also plastic banknotes. These so-called polymer bank notes do offer a longer durability and greater protection against forgery than the cotton bills, but they are also more expensive to manufacture and tend to heat sensitivity. You have not yet been set, but introduced worldwide in more countries one by one.
