As part of its centenary anniversary celebrations, Komori has produced a house note, The Phoenix 2023. This note celebrates and brings to life Komori’s concept of ‘Power to the Print – Technology that Empowers’.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has issued a new denomination $2 commemorative banknote in celebration of its 40th anniversary.

The Central Bank of the UAE has issued a new 500 dirham banknote – the fifth in its new all-polymer series, which has been progressively rolled out since 2022.

In November 1993, the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, signed a decree ‘On the introduction of the national currency of the Republic of Kazakhstan’. Following this, the tenge became the official currency of the country.

The focus of this month’s coverage of cash information in central bank annual reports is Asia, looking specifically at Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan and New Zealand.

Readers will recall in earlier editions that we addressed a number of significant highlights following G+D`s Currency Technology Symposium held in July. This is the final story, focusing on key elements of the day dedicated to Louisenthal, G+D’s substrate and feature subsidiary.

Earlier this year Giesecke+Devrient outlined a solution for banknote waste which is ‘straightforward, flexible and scalable’ (see CN July 2023). After having introduced the concept of Banknote Fibre Extraction (BFE) at the CT Symposium, the next development phase has taken place.

Banknote security features won two out of the five categories in the 2023 Excellence in Holography Awards, presented by the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) at the recent annual online Holography Conference.

Euro banknotes are set to be adorned with either rivers and birds, or images of European culture, as the Governing Council of European Central Bank (ECB) whittles down options for the first redesign of the currency since its inception.

The 2023 CashTech Innovation Awards, arranged by the thinktank CashEssentials and sponsored by Sesami, were presented at the Future of Cash conference, which took place 6-8 November in Istanbul.

As Currency News™ went to press, news came out that the cash management firms Armaguard, with a 90% share of the market, is seeking a cash injection to ensure it can operate its banknote distribution services profitably, just five months after it merged with rival Prosegur to create a near-monopoly that was supposed to do just that (see CN June 2023).

The 6th International Mint and Print (MAP) Conference took place in Dubai. Just under 200 delegates from around 90 institutions and 40 countries took part in the event, organised by Mazen Hamden, with approximately 25% attending for the first time.

META Materials Inc, a developer of high performance functional materials and nanocomposites which acquired security feature specialist Nanotech Security Corp in 2021, has announced details of a restucturing plan that will see it focus on core business lines that are either generating revenues, or expected to do so in the near future.

At the awards ceremony held during the gala dinner at the Mint Directors Conference in Ottawa last month, the winner of the Best Circulating Coin category was the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) for the $2 Honey Bee coin, issued in 2022 as a joint collaboration with the Honey Bee Industry Council to mark the bicentennial of the establishment of the bee industry in Australia.

The International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) held a webinar recently to discuss how sustainability is, and can be, incorporated into tenders by central banks. Purchasing power is, of course, a powerful lever for achieving policy goals.

The Intergraf Currency + Identity Conference and Exhibition took place from 18-20 October in Bilbao, Spain. The Bilbao Exhibition Centre hosted this year’s 940-plus participants from the two branches of the industry, of which more than 170 were from central banks, government and law enforcement, along with 107 exhibitors.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is seeking to standardise the parameters used by banknote sorting machines to ensure uniform fitness standards across the different models and makes of equipment being used.

In this issue, we describe the industry’s newest banknote production facility – IMBISA in Spain. Another example of a new printworks that has also built innovation in from the start is Guangzhou Banknote Printing Co Ltd (GBPC), the seventh and newest of China Banknote Printing and Minting’s banknote factories.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that it will allow old banknotes that were due to be phased out in December to remain legal tender indefinitely, following a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court.

Bank Note Paper Mill India Ltd (BNPMIL) has recently celebrated its Foundation Day.