At the Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) conference in in Lisbon this April, Michael Natan, President of Diametryx Inc, presented his new company’s intriguing colour-change particles in which the effects change not only by tilting, but shaking as well.

There was a time when the market for polymer substrates, albeit small, was dominated by one supplier. The market grew, and so did the number of suppliers, CCL Secure and GUARDIAN™ being joined by De La Rue with SAFEGUARD®.

On July 20, 1969, more than 500 million people around the world watched the Moonlanding, the ‘great leap for mankind’ - a technical feat that opened new horizons for humanity.

The IACA 2024 Excellence in Currency Technical Awards, which are sponsored by Currency News, were presented at the dinner on the last evening of the Banknote Conference, 15 May.

The winner of the IACA Best New House Note at this year’s Banknote Conference was Bundesdruckerei (BDR), which launched its new note – Ignis – from the ExNihilo series during the conference.

In recent years Vietnam has been a go-to country for many of the world players in the technology, automotive, and fashion industries. It is now stepping into a new field – polymer banknote substrates and security features.

Spectra Systems has developed its own print-ready machine- readable banknote polymer substrate, FUSION™, working exclusively with Toray Plastics America.

As an anti-forgery expert with the Egyptian Ministry of Justice, I have spent decades investigating the strength and security of various banknote substrates. My work has involved analysis of the technical specifications of banknotes, through extensive mechanical and chemical testing, as well as an assessment of data published by central banks. I’d like to share my findings here.

The International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) has announced the finalists of the 2024 Excellence in Currency Technical Awards. The winners for all four categories will be announced at the Banknote Conference Awards Dinner on the evening of 15 May.

All of the key themes facing the banknote industry were covered at the High Security Printing Asia conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, held at the beginning of December.