Described as the cash industry’s pre-eminent gathering since its inception in 1992, for more than 30 years the Currency Conference has provided a unique platform for senior-level central bankers, representatives of printworks, and leading industry suppliers to deliberate and engage with peers on the most vital topics impacting currency policy and the issue function.

The first Directory of Currency Suppliers™ was published in 2004. This year has seen the publication of the seventh edition. Here, we take a look at changes between the sixth edition from 2018 and today, and a slightly higher level look at 2004 and today.

According to the hit single I’m Your Venus (from the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue in 1969 and then again from the UK girl band Bananarama in 1986), ‘Venus is the name of the game’. It’s also the name of Louisenthal’s latest security feature – specifically RollingStar® Venus, an upgrade on the company’s portfolio of threads based on its micro-mirror technology.

The inaugural Security Designers Forum was held in Warsaw, Poland, from 10-13 September 2024. An initiative of the security design community, it was the successor to the International Banknote Designers Conference and was a full-capacity event, attracting 176 delegates from 82 organisations spanning 32 countries.

Laos’ Parliament has removed Bounleua Sinxayvoravong as Governor of the Bank of the Lao PDR, a position he held since 2022.

Reconnaissance, the High Security Printing™ (HSP) conference organiser, has announced that registration is now open for the upcoming HSP Asia event, scheduled for December 2-4, 2024, in Bangkok, Thailand.

In last months’ Currency News™, we reference the Bank of Guyana’s upgrade of its $500 and $1,000 banknotes with Rolling Star® LEAD Pure security foil from Louisenthal on the former, and Crane’s RAPID® Vision security thread on the latter. In this article, we provide more details of the $500.

The Guatemalan currency, the quetzal, was introduced in 1924. The Q1 commemorative banknote, released in September 2024, is only the second commemorative banknote in the history of Banco de Guatemala (Banguat), and commemorates the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the quetzal as the national monetary unit.

The usual picture that comes to mind of a counterfeiter’s modus operandi is one of clandestine operations carried out under cover of darkness. But what happens when the illegal activities are carried out in plain sight and what is the industry doing to prevent them?

In this periodic series of articles covering cash information in central bank annual reports, we turn our attention this month to England, Iceland, Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has so far collected almost PHP 888.7 million from the coin deposit machines introduced last year. The number of transactions reached 214,475 as of the middle of August, with 236 million coins having been deposited and exchanged for e-wallet credits or shopping vouchers.

Last month, the uncertainty over the future of the authentication business of Meta Materials was resolved by the acquisition of its assets by Authentix. This is the latest in a string of acquisitions that has seen Authentix grow from its early days as a developer of taggants for fuel integrity programmes to a full service and solutions provider to the banknote industry of covert technologies, sensors, overt features, security print and design.

The Cash Cycle Seminars (ICCOS) are annual events from Currency Research (CR) that bring global knowledge to regional markets in the Americas, Asia, and EMEA.

On 3 July 2024, the Bank of Japan started issuing a new series of banknotes consisting of 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen notes: a historic moment in Japan, as this is the first time in 20 years that a new series of banknotes has been introduced.

Bank Al-Maghrib has issued new 50 dirham banknote, the third in its new series.

Last month we reported on the broadly positive interim results for two leaders in the currency sector – Orell Füssli and Prosegur. This month is the turn of Brinks, NCR Atleos, Diebold Nixdorf and Crane NXT.

The news that the Mint of Finland is closing down will no doubt be cited by many as another grim reminder that cash is on the way out. Certainly, that was the reason given by the company when it announced that it is winding down and will cease operations next year.

The UK banking system is reported to be storing indefinitely around £4 million worth of unwanted copper coins.

A team from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has received the Bank of Canada’s counterfeit deterrence award for its work analysing international shipments, leading to the seizure of large volumes of counterfeit banknotes.

State security printers in Asia are transforming as a result of a fast-changing economic and technological landscape. Traditionally known for producing banknotes, coins, and secure documents, these institutions are now repositioning themselves as digital identification and authentication (DIA) players, as this article, adapted from sister publication Authentication & Brand News, explains.