Beethoven or birds? ECB unveils new banknote designs

FRANKFURT, July 23 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank on Thursday unveiled a shortlist of new banknote designs and expects to pick a winner by the end of the year in its effort to roll out more secure cash in the future. 

The 10 shortlisted designs, themed around "European culture" and "Rivers and birds," will now be up for public debate. Europeans will have until September 21 to provide feedback, ECB President Christine Lagarde said. 

The banknote proposals feature such luminaries as Maria Skłodowska Curie, the only scientist to have won Nobel prizes in both physics and chemistry, composer Ludwig van Beethoven and artist Leonardo da Vinci. 

A second set, meanwhile, features birds including the kingfisher and white stork, the ECB said. It is the first complete redesign of euro notes since their first issuance in 2002, the central bank said.

The reverse side of the banknotes will include scenes of nature or public life themed around art, science or leisure. 

The ECB said that, given the need for development and testing, it will take several years for the new banknotes to go into circulation after a final design is selected.

Old banknotes will retain their value and will continue to circulate alongside the new series.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi in Frankfurt; Editing by Matthew Lewis)