This series of periodic global updates, which started in 2017, have mainly focused on the development of the growth rates of the value and volume of banknotes in circulation. Furthermore, they have addressed some interesting phenomena around banknote demand. This latest update will follow this customary agenda.

Currency News™ will publish its third special supplement, ‘Concept Notes: Art, Design and Security in One’, in Spring 2026 – featuring the latest concept (house) notes from across the industry.

We have recently read that the US Treasury has confirmed that the production of US one cent coins will stop once the stocks of blanks have been used up. Respectively, on the other side of the Atlantic, the German National Cash Forum advocates rounding up or down to the nearest 5 euro cent for cash payments in Germany. It even proposes that the rounding rule (applied from the beginning in Finland) should be applied across Europe as uniformly as possible. Cash means both notes and coins. Therefore, the monitoring of both is important to the future of cash.

Perhaps this feels like a nugatory question. But when you consider that between 2003 and 2024 there were five times as many studies about the cost of cash than about its value, and that the cost studies were mostly based on numbers while the value studies were more theoretical or descriptive, then the question starts to make sense.

Currency News™ is publishing a round-up of all new banknotes and coins issued in 2024. This annual summary will be issued each year from now on, covering the previous year’s new issues.

At the High Security Printing™ (HSP) Asia conference in Bangkok last December, currency and counterfeit expert Aleksei Faleev gave a presentation on a survey conducted among cashiers in Kyrgyzstan to gauge their knowledge of and preferences for banknote security features. He has subsequently written this article based on that presentation.

Financial authorities remain concerned about counterfeiting US currency; however, recent studies suggest a declining trend in the circulation of fake banknotes. A new report by Ruth Judson and published by the Federal Reserve – Estimating the Volume of Counterfeit US Currency in Circulation – provides insights into counterfeit US dollar circulation and its economic impact.

A new white paper investigates how cash management is changing and best practice for optimising efficiency, thereby reducing the cost and environmental impact of cash.

The latest edition of The Directory of Currency & Technology Suppliers will be launched at the Banknote Conference this May.

‘Concept Notes: Art, Design and Security in One’, the second issue of a special report from Currency News summarising the latest house notes, is now available to download and read.