The Bank of England has launched an interactive app for smartphones enabling users to identify security features used in banknotes. The app is for iOS and Android devices and can is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play free of charge. The Bank of England say the app is aimed at…
Tim Cobbold, the Chief Executive of UK based commercial banknote printer De La Rue, has today announced that he is resigning. This move comes just three years after he was employed by De La Rue as a replacement for James Hussey who resigned after taking responsibility for the problems the firm encountered with paper production…
Nominations for the 2013 Banknote of the Year award, hosted by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) have now been named. The annual award recognises exceptional banknote designs, which have been put into circulation for use by the public during the year of the award. The IBNS states that banknotes put forward to be nominated…
An official statement from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has noted that the issuance of Egyptian banknotes rose to EGP 264.1billion (US$37.9bn) during the 2012/2013 financial year, an increase of EGP 56.7 billion (US$8.15bn). It was noted in the statement that government expenditure led to an increase in the budget deficit, after reaching EGP…
For the first time, the Bank of England has allowed the £1 million and £100 million banknotes to be filmed. The United Kingdom’s Channel 4 news program filmed the banknotes during a news article regarding Scottish Independence. The banknotes are a “physical manifestation of the relationship between the Bank of England and the Scottish banking…
The use of the old £50 banknote design featuring Sir John Houblon is due is to stop from 1st May 2014. The Bank of England has been withdrawing the banknote from circulation since its replacement was launched in November 2011. Those wishing to use their old banknotes can do so until 30 April, after which…
The European Central Bank (ECB) issued a press release this week confirming the total number of counterfeit euro banknotes which were withdrawn from circulation. During the second half of 2013 the total number of banknotes withdrawn saw an increase of 11.4% compared to the volume removed during the first half of 2013. Though this number…
The European Central Bank (ECB) has today issued a press release announcing the new €10 banknote. The new banknote, part of the recently released Europa series, will begin to circulate on the 23rd September 2014, allowing retailers and other cash handlers time to prepare for its release into circulation. The new banknote design will gradually…
It is known by many that Japan is a country which is very technically advanced. Cashless payments are commonly used in daily transactions and it would appear that Japan could be the ideal “Cashless Society”. Except it’s not. Total currency in circulation at the end of 2013 rose to Y90 trillion (US$860 billion) in Japan,…
A study titled “Supercritical Fluid Cleaning of Banknotes” has been published in the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research journal, where scientists claim they have created a method to “remove human grease, microbes and motor oil” from banknotes using supercritical fluid (“substances that maintain liquid and gas properties through manipulation of their temperature and pressure”). The…