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Norway's Central Bank Just Approved These Crazy Modern Art Bank Notes

Norges Bank, the central bank of Norway, recently held a contest to redesign the country's bank notes. (Norway uses the kroner — it's still outside the Euro area.) One of the finalists was this design featuring a traditional Norwegian motif on one side and a child's drawing of the same scene on the other:

norway banknote1
norway banknote1

Norges Bank

And here's the other side:

Norway bank note
Norway bank note

Norges Bank

In the end, however, the bank chose designs from two professional design agencies. One side of the notes features Norwegian scenes and motifs from a company called The Metric System, and they look fairly traditional. But the other side, designed by Snøhetta, is a cubist version of a Norwegian scene that is so pixelated it's impossible to tell what the original image was.

Take a look. We've got the front followed by the modern art-style back of each note here:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

The 50:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

And on the back ...

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

The 200:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

The back:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

The 500:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

The back:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

And the 1000:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

And the back:

Norway bank Kroner
Norway bank Kroner

Norges Bank

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