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Have a Happy Thought: If you haven’t had a good look at a banknote recently, you really should. There is some incredible artwork as well as security features, and it’s all fascinating . (For example – did you know that New Zealand bank notes are actually printed in Canada ?) The European Union is doing a full re-design of the Euro. And for the first time, they’re proposing the possibility of “portrait” view… must be for the TikTok generation . Either way you hold a banknote, some of the imagery, and the stories behind them, are amazing. Here’s just a quick sample – There are 10 Design profiles, each of which have six denominations… so lots to look at (and lots for you notaphilists to plan for your future collections!): Image: Design A, focused on how culture is formed. In landscape mode.   Image: Design B, focused on bird species in relation to its habitat. In landscape mode.   Image: Design D, with different de...

Have a Happy Thought: Sunshine lifts your spirits. If you’re in the northern hemisphere right now, you’re getting plenty of that sunshine. And statistically, if you are a human, you are more likely to live in the northern hemisphere. (although statistically, if you receive this by email, you are juuuust more likely to be in the southern hemisphere.) More humans live in the eastern hemisphere than the western, as well. This gives rise to some very interesting maps, like… Here is a view of the globe that captures only 7% of humanity: Image: Map of the earth where a small dot represents 2,500 people. The bottom image shows New Zealand pretty much in the centre, and only represents 7% of humanity. Source: Bill Rankin, 2015. CC BY-SA. This uneven distribution of humanity on the planet means that, in northern hemisphere summer, during the eastern hemisphere mid-day, there are times where 99% of humanity is in sunlight (unless there are clouds, but you get the point). Image: map of ...