The frequency of the introduction of a new series or an upgrade was addressed in the April issue of Currency News. In this article, Antti Heinonen continues the debate by addressing the topic from a historical perspective.

In June’s issue of Currency News™, we covered the rebirth of CPS and its new strategy. As part of this strategy, CPS has worked with its sister-company Enterprise Cash Management to develop ECM™ – Centralised Control.

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.

Koenig & Bauer, in its report on its first quarter results, gave further details of its Spotlight programme, launched earlier this year to prioritise initiatives and business models that boost earnings and financial strength, deprioritise initiatives that do not directly impact earnings and optimise the group and segment organisation as well as the indirect cost structure to make processes even leaner and more customer-friendly.

Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBNS) has run its ‘Equinox’ customer event in parallel with the DRUPA print conference and through into June. It has used the event to showcase what it does, to launch a number of new developments, particularly its AKTINA™ product, and to make the case for thinking about banknotes, and banknote printing differently.

The Federal Council of Switzerland has appointed Martin Schlegel as the new chairman of the governing board of the Swiss National Bank (SNB). He succeeds Thomas Jordan at the helm, who is retiring after more than 12 years in the position.

In this article, Kerre Corbin of Kerrency details what happens to counterfeits when they are handed in and considers whether these notes included in the counterfeiting statistics reported by central banks.

Glory – the Japanese developer of cash handling, management and automation systems for the financial, retail, vending, transportation and gaming sectors – has reported an impressive increase in sales for 2023-24 and a return to profit, driven largely by a resurgence in the domestic market.

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR) has issued the new 5,000 som banknote, the seventh and last banknote of the fifth series, completing the modernisation that started in May 2023. The new series includes denominations ranging from 20 to 5,000 som – all featuring RAPID HD® Detect from Crane Currency.

The Bank of Canada has issued a progress update on the new $20, which will feature King Charles III as the portrait subject, replacing that of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The back will continue to feature the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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®.

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.

Secure Innovation Group, the global technology company specialising in cash protection and security solutions (formerly known as Spinnaker), has launched its latest brand – Remote Planet.

The CBDC Conference take place from 10-12 September in Istanbul. The conference organiser has now published the first tranche of confirmed speakers, 15 of whom are from central banks, as well as the International Monetary Fund.