It was 20 years ago that the micro-optics technology behind MOTION® first made its appearance – first at the Optical Document Security conference that year in San Francisco, and then a few months later at the Currency Conference in Rome.

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.

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.

In an era marked by rapid digitalisation and evolving payment methods, the enduring role of physical currency remains a cornerstone of economic stability and financial inclusion. It is within this context that the upcoming Global Currency Forum (GCF) in Muscat, Oman, assumes paramount significance.

Gary Spinks of Security Fibres introduced his presentation in one of the Innovation Sessions at the Banknote Conference with the acknowledgement that, in the great scheme of things, security fibres are an infinitesimally small element of security paper, and therefore the impact of more sustainable fibres is limited. Even so, he said, everyone needs to do their bit.

Towards the end of 2023, Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering (Kusters) carried out an extensive survey involving central banks globally, in partnership with Reconnaissance International.

A forum is a meeting where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged, and that is the aim of the Cash Sustainability Forum, providing the opportunity for all stakeholders involved in cash to meet, share, understand and learn.

The Banknote Conference took place 13-16 May in Fort Worth, Texas. Organised by Currency Research, it was attended by nearly 425 delegates from 72 countries and 183 organisations. Of those, 92 were central banks and/or printworks.

Further to the completion of the acquisition of OpSec Security for $270 million, Crane NXT has announced a restructuring of its business segments.

The materials and nanotechnology specialist Meta Materials – which acquired the security features company Nanotech Security Corp in 2021 – has announced a workforce reduction of 80%. It is understood that most of the workforce of over 100 has already been let go.

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.

An unscientific rule of thumb taught to those entering the banknote industry used to be that a country needed a population of about 40 million people to justify having their own banknote printing works. This article considers how accurate, or relevant, this rule is in modern times.

In this periodic series summarising counterfeit currency around the world, we focus on the latest news from Switzerland, Ukraine, Spain and Bulgaria.

Antti Heinonen looks at the evolution of central bank engagement with the public on banknotes, considering what lessons can be learned and including his own personal perspective.

The Royal Mint (TRM), the UK’s oldest company, has announced that it is to pull out of the market for producing foreign circulating coins and blanks, bringing to an end a 700-year old business in producing coins for overseas countries.

China Banknote Printing & Minting (CBPM) has developed and is now using a new integrated processing and packaging production line for post-press operations.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has unveiled a new family of coins and banknotes denominated in Zimbabwe gold (expressed as ZiG), which replaces the preceding dollar notes at a rate of 1:2,498.7242.

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.