Brussels, 01/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on Wednesday evening, the European Central Bank (ECB) would sufficiently withstand counterfeiters given that only 21, 965 false notes have been detected between January and June - less than 7% of the total number of counterfeits of legacy currencies recorded by euro area national central banks during the same period in 2001 (see EUROPE yesterday p 5). This represents 59 million genuine notes in circulation - just one false bank note per day. "The extent of counterfeiting of the euro is, so far, very low, although counterfeit activity recently seems to have increased somewhat", pointed out the ECB, adding that it was important not to get complacent. The ECB refuses to give a breakdown of the figures for each country, since there is now a much larger cross-border migration of banknotes with the introduction of the single currency. The ECB stresses that the quality of counterfeit euro banknotes has generally been low. With a few exceptions (mainly concerning the €50 denomination), they stem from "amateur" operations. Given their low quality, as well as - in this particular case - the high degree of interest from the public, counterfeits do not "circulate" in the same way as genuine banknotes do. The counterfeiting of coins is even more rare. "So far, only 68 counterfeits have been recorded, although it is acknowledged that counterfeit coins tend to be disposed of rather than reported, because of their low value", explained the ECB.