5 Pounds 2001, Cyprus
| in Krause book | Number: 61а |
| Years of issue: | 01.02..2001 |
| Edition: | G - L 5 000 000 |
| Signatures: | Director: Afxentis Afxentiou |
| Serie: | 1997 - 2001 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 01.02.1997 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 148 х 72 |
| Printer: | Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire SA, Colombes |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
The engraving for watermark is made after Aphrodite statue, I century BC (Marble). Held in Cyprus Museum, in Nicosia.
Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess Venus. Aphrodite's major symbols include myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of "sacred prostitution" in Greco-Roman culture, an idea which is now generally seen as erroneous.
Avers:
The image of young man's head (antique sculpture) of limestone dating from the V century BC.
There was a whole story with this young man's head. the fact is that all the other antique sculptures, from the banknotes of Cyprus, my wife and I found in the Cyprus Archaeological Museum, in Nicosia. But, this particular head was not there.
I asked a museum worker if he knew where this particular head was. A whole council was assembled :), four men for a long time found out something from each other in Greek, 3 times attempts were made, to walk with me to the exibition hall, with exclamations - they say, yes, here it is, but... it turned out that that's all - so not it :).
Finally, I was told that they do not have this head and it is most likely in some other museum, for example, in Larnaca or Limassol (we were there - it is not there either).
I put a photo of the rider in the description, because this figurine, with its face, most resembles the head of an antique youth from a banknote.
In top center is the coat of arms of Cyprus.
The coat of arms of the Republic of Cyprus depicts a dove carrying an olive branch (a well-known symbol of peace) over “1960”, the year of Cypriot independence from British rule. The background is a copper-yellow colour; this symbolises the large deposits of copper ore on Cyprus (chiefly in the form of chalcopyrite, which is yellow in colour). The arms is not violating the rule of tincture, since the dove is not argent (silver) but blazoned as of the colour proper, i.e. it has the colour it would have in nature, in this case white.
The name of the bank in Greek and Turkish languages.
Lower is the island of Cyprus.
Denominations in numerals are in lower left and top right corners. Centered in words.
Revers:
The church in honor of Saints Barnabas and Hilarion and a Turkish mosque in Peristerona.
Located in the village of Peristerona, on the west bank of the tributary of the Serrahis River, the church in honor of Saints Barnabas and Hilarion is believed to have been built in the IX or X centuries. The five-domed building serves as an outstanding example of Cypriot Byzantine architecture; part of the still-preserved northern wall of the original church is included in the western part of the wall of the existing church. The oldest murals belong to the XV and XVI centuries.
Next to the church is the Turkish mosque Peristerona. They stand side by side, as a symbol of peaceful coexistence between the Greeks and Turkish Cypriots before the Turkish invasion of 1974.
Peristerona (Περιστερώνα) is a large village, about 32 kilometers west of the capital Nicosia, on the foothills of the Troodos Mountain range in the Morphou basin. It is built on the west bank of the river that bears the same name, which is a tributary of the river Serrachis, at an average altitude of 250 meters.
In lower right corner is Palmette.
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear relatively little resemblance to the original. In ancient Greek and Roman uses it is also known as the anthemion (from the Greek ανθέμιον, a flower). It is found in most artistic media, but especially as an architectural ornament, whether carved or painted, and painted on ceramics. It is very often a component of the design of a frieze or border. The complex evolution of the palmette was first traced by Alois Riegl in his Stilfragen of 1893. The half-palmette, bisected vertically, is also a very common motif, found in many mutated and vestigial forms, and especially important in the development of plant-based scroll ornament. 
Denominations in numerals are in lower left and top right corners, also on the left side. Centered in words.
Comments:
The British introduced the pound sterling unit to Cyprus in 1879 at a rate of one to 180 Turkish piastres. It remained equal in value to the pound sterling until 1972 and was initially divided into 20 shillings (σελίνι / σελίνια, şilin). The shilling was divided into 9 piastres (γρόσι / γρόσια, kuruş), thus establishing a nomenclature link to the previous currency. The piastre was itself divided into 40 para (like the kuruş). The para denomination did not appear on any coins or banknotes but was used on postage stamps.
In 1955, Cyprus decimalized with 1000 mils (μιλς, mil) to the pound. Colloquially, the 5 mil coin was known as a "piastre" (not an exact equivalence) and the 50 mil coin as a "shilling" (an exact equivalence). The subdivision was changed to 100 cents (σεντ, sent) to the pound on 3 October 1983. At that time, the smallest coin still in circulation was that of 5 mils. This was renamed as ½ cent, but soon was abolished. Mil-denominated coins are no longer legal tender.
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