Latest News

Astrid Mitchell

31 July 2023

2 min read

China Invests in Inspection and Platemaking

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.

Technology

Astrid Mitchell

31 July 2023

3 min read

Polymer Features Pay Homage to the Universe

Security features embedded into the substrate of a banknote are particularly difficult for counterfeiters to replicate effectively – and the technology behind these features has advanced significantly in the past several years.

Technology

31 July 2023

4 min read

From Costa Rica to Meta’s Latest Plasmonic Banknote Security Feature

Meta Materials Inc has been a pioneer in banknote OVD technology for the past decade with innovations in micro-, nano- and now plasmonic structures. The company has also developed in-house secure foil production so that it can offer banknote stripes direct to customers.

Banknotes Technology

Astrid Mitchell

2 July 2023

3 min read

The Absence of Everything – New Concepts Pioneered by BDR and Partners

At the Currency Conference in May, Dieter Sauter, Vice President & General Manager Value Printing for Bundesdruckerei, unveiled the concept behind the ‘Dark Banknote Series‘, and the first note in this series (ExNihilo), which is the result of the SIRALab initiative.

Banknotes Technology

Astrid Mitchell

2 July 2023

4 min read

PerceptNote Puts Banknote Designs to the Test

Design testing is not easy but is good practice. Ernesto Gonzalez Candela of Mexican firm UnderCurrency, which offers consulting services and products to assess and improve the performance of banknotes and coins, presented a new tool at the Optical and Digital Document Security conference in April to help central banks optimise their banknote designs and have confidence that they will perform in circulation.

Technology

Astrid Mitchell

2 July 2023

4 min read

Windows and All That Jazz

SUSI Optics® Jazz™, the latest addition to the SUSI Optics® family of optically variable features for banknotes, was launched at the Currency Conference in May, with a stunning specimen note produced to demonstrate the spectrum of opportunities it offers.

Banknotes Technology

Nikki Strickland

2 July 2023

5 min read

Design Thinking: Security that is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

Banknote users see a holistic banknote when they transact but our industry doesn’t always think holistically. A significant proportion of our time is focussed on individual components and, whilst these are incredibly important, we risk overlooking the essential role of integration in unlocking the next wave of banknote innovation.

Banknotes Technology

Astrid Mitchell

29 May 2023

3 min read

A New Dimension in Ink Security from Gleitsmann

Gleitsmann Security Inks (GIS) used the Currency Conference to launch glairINK , a new suite of infrared (IR) inks for intaglio and offset printing that, the company says, sets a new standard in future machine-readable security features for banknotes.

Banknotes Substrates, Features Technology

Astrid Mitchell

29 May 2023

2 min read

Authentix Begins Production of CDI2 Compliant Detectors for Fed

Authentix has announced that it is now in commercial production of the world’s first CDI2 compliant banknote detectors including GemVision™, a CDI2 compliant fitness solution for the determination of banknote quality.

Companies Technology

Astrid Mitchell

24 May 2023

4 min read

Koenig & Bauer Invests in the Green Future of Currency

As noted in the April issue of Currency News™, in which we covered Koenig & Bauer’s annual results for 2022, Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBNS) is demonstrating its commitment to the future of currency through a range of new investments in processes, technologies and services.

Companies Sustainability Technology

Astrid Mitchell

18 April 2023

4 min read

Pulsar™ Threads – a Dynamic Response to the Threat of Counterfeiting

In the February issue of Currency News, we covered the acquisition by Oberthur Fiduciare (OF) of two thirds of the shares of the Swedish micro-optics firm RollingOptics, signalling its intention to focus on the growing area of micro-optics for security features. But even before this acquisition, OF had launched Pulsar™.

Technology

Astrid Mitchell

2 April 2023

3 min read

Distinkt – a New Name in Nanotech Authentication

Nanotechnology has been a fertile breeding ground for authentication devices – as structures that can be controlled at the nanoscale exhibit responses to light that are distinctive and near impossible to replicate.

Companies Technology

Astrid Mitchell

2 April 2023

3 min read

Intelligent Security with RAPID Vision and Secure Colour Movement

Crane Currency has launched RAPID® Vision, which it describes as a new, innovative and intelligent micro-optic security thread for banknotes that brings high-contrast colour movement to a new level.

Technology

Astrid Mitchell

1 March 2023

2 min read

New Note and Coin Database for Currency News

The online database that comes free with your subscription to Currency News™ (and its sister publications Coin & Mint News™ and Cash & Payment News™) has changed.

News Technology

Alexander Huber

1 March 2023

2 min read

A Quick Trip to the ‘Enhanced’ Galaxy

Advanced technologies continue to improve and become even more sophisticated. This is definitely so for the enduring R+D work focused on reducing the banknote counterfeit threat.

Banknotes Counterfeiting Technology

Astrid Mitchell

1 Feb. 2023

2 min read

NASPS – a Lotus Flower in the Desert

The National Company for Advanced Industries and Integrated Strategic Printing Solutions (NASPS) unites the production of a wide range of ID and travel documents, excise stamps, holograms, security paper, payment cards, personalisation systems and the development of information systems and storage under one roof.

News Technology

Astrid Mitchell

4 Oct. 2022

3 min read

SICPA and UbiQD Partner for Quantum Dot Security

Swiss-based SICPA and New-Mexico nanotechnology company UbiQD have announced an expansion of their partnership to develop security inks based on the latter’s quantum dot technology.

Companies Technology

Steve Craig

1 June 2022

3 min read

Currency and the Metaverse

Among the customary technical presentations and product launches at conferences, the one given by Komori at the recent Global Currency Forum on the topic of the metaverse was very much ‘out of the box’. Here Steve Craig of Komori explains what the metaverse is, and how Komori is looking at harnessing it for banknote production.

Banknotes Technology

Astrid Mitchell

4 March 2022

3 min read

KURZ Moves on With KINEGRAM DYNAMIC®

KURZ has been a pioneer in the use of diffractive optical anti-counterfeit features on banknotes since its earliest developments on the Australian dollar and the Austrian shilling. Its acquisition of OVD Kinegram (OVDK) in 1999 added proprietary optical features to its existing strengths in materials technology.

Technology

Astrid Mitchell

3 March 2022

4 min read

SPARTAN: Transformational New Option at the Note/Coin Boundary

According to CCL Secure, the SPARTAN banknote has been engineered specifically for the note/coin boundary and is the result of researchers creating not only a brand new kind of polymer but also reimagining the banknote production process.

Banknotes Technology