Miguel López, Research and Development Unit Manager in Banco de España recently presented a new way of designing cash, Neurocash, at both the EMEA and Latin American High Security Printing conferences.

This month we look at Europe, and the annual reports of some Eurosystem central banks, as well as the central banks of Albania, Denmark, Kosovo and Hungary.

In his interview in last month’s Currency News, Frederic Trojani, CEO of SURYS, referenced a new thread from the company, Vibes™.

The Mint Directors Conference 2023 is fast approaching and the Royal Canadian Mint have shared highlights of the programme, comprising two days of thought-provoking sessions.

In the June issue of Currency News™, our lead article was on laws to protect cash gaining momentum, with specific reference to the euro and a proposal on legal tender status for notes and coins. This month we look at some developments on an individual country basis in Europe regarding enshrining the right to cash in law, both within and outside the eurozone.

The Reserve Bank of Fiji has released a commemorative banknote to celebrate the Chinese Lunar Year of the Dragon. The date of issue – the eighth day of the eighth month– is an auspicious one, the number 8 being the luckiest in Chinese culture, symbolising wealth and good fortune.

The production of a million banknotes (or one shift of an intaglio printing line) produces 100 kg of intaglio ‘sludge’. Sludge is frequently sent to landfill because of its contamination in the process used to extract it from the printing process.

Plans for the separation of NCR Corporation into two separate businesses is moving apace, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission declaring effective the registration on Form 10. The two new businesses, NCR Atleos and NCR Voyix, will focus on ATMs and digital commerce in retail, hospitality and banking, respectively.

Banknotes have changed considerably since De La Rue printed its first paper money for Mauritius in 1860. The adoption of lithography introduced more colourful designs, patterns, and imagery. Security features such as watermarks, polymer windows, threads, novel inks, and applied features then additionally introduced contrasting textures and sheen, movement and complexity.

KURZ, the leading supplier of security foils with diffractive features, has produced a new reference book with a wide selection of images of banknotes that have utilised its KINEGRAM® technology.

Hitachi Payment Services, India’s leading integrated payment solutions provider and a subsidiary of the Japanese multinational technology conglomeration Hitachi, has entered into an agreement to acquire the cash management business of Writer Safeguard from its parent, the Writer Corporation.

CBDCs started to become visible in published papers and discussions around 2016. No doubt there was much material before then but the acceleration of interest and activity has taken CBDCs from a niche to main stream media discussions.

What do the KGB, the Chinese Communist Party, the Canadian Prime Minister and the UK’s Brexit campaign leader have in common?

Banking on World Heritage, a first-of-its-kind exhibition, was held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in New Delhi from 30 June to 9 July. It was conceptualised and curated by Ms Rukmini Dahanukar, an independent research scholar under her proprietary research, ‘Money Talks’, that unfolds the untold story of banknote art and design from around the world.

Biobanknote, developer of solutions for repurposing end of life banknotes and the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú have recently conducted a composting test with the waste from banknotes withdrawn from circulation at the Control Ambiental plant.

Giesecke+Devrient held its Currency Technology Symposium 2023 in July in Munich. Normally a biennial event, this is the first to be held since 2019 due to COVID, and was attended by more than 300 customers from central banks, printworks and commercial cash handling industry.

Hyosung Innovue (formerly knowns as Hyosung America and the North American subsidiary of South Korean ATM manufacturer Hyosung TNS) has announced the launch of the new Cajera Pivot recycling ATM series for retail applications.

The Central Bank of Belize is to issue a new currency series, which will feature images of national heroes rather than the head of state, King Charles III.

The Currency Conference took part in Mexico City in May 2023, overlapping with the Digital Currency Conference.

China Banknote Designing and Engraving Co, part of the family of companies belonging to China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, has brand-new inspection and platemaking systems to meet increasing innovation requirements and demand.