Yesterday Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) presented their latest technology to fight against banknote counterfeiters at the Banknote 2012 conference in Washington D.C. A press release was also issued by the company detailing their new product: MAGnite. This banknote security feature uses “high performance pigments that allow reversible changes between two colour states” when in range…
Following the release of the $100 and $50 polymer banknotes, the Bank of Canada has recently issued the new $20 polymer banknote. This is the latest in the entire series due to be changed, with the new polymer $10 and $5 banknotes expected to be released by late 2013. Like the previous versions, the Bank…
It has been advised that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to gradually replace all Rs10 banknotes with coins. The Rs10 coin was released into circulation in March 2009, alongside the RS10 banknote. It is reported that the current lifespan of an Rs10 banknote is only 9-10 months, which can be a challenge for…
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has informed the general public and all banks that as of September 30, 2012, the old GH¢50 banknotes are no longer legal tender and should therefore not be issued to members of the public. This follows the release of the new GH¢50 banknote in August this year which features a…
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology have developed a tiny version of the QR Code with the intention of them being applied to banknotes as a security feature. The QR Code is created by combining microscopic nanoparticles with blue and green fluorescent inks before applying them to the banknote surface using an aerosol…
On the 21st August 2012, the Bank of Ghana (BOG) issued the upgraded GH¢50 banknote. The upgraded version was designed to enhance the security and maintain the integrity of the banknote. According to the BOG’s Vice President, Mr. Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, though counterfeiting of the GH¢50 is not a high concern, the Bank aims to move…
The counterfeit statistics for the first half of 2012 have now been released by the European Central Bank (ECB). The total number of counterfeit euro banknotes which were removed from circulation during the 6 months from January to June 2012 totalled 251,000, a decrease of 15.2% compared to the same period in 2011. However, when comparing the number of…
Until 1857 all US $ bills were printed using ‘carbon black’ based ink on both the front and reverse of the note. The colour green used on US currency was invented in 1857 by a Canadian chemist named Thomas Sterry Hunt. Like other chemists of his day, he used natural pigments and laboratory chemicals to…
Following the recent release of the new Malawi series of banknotes and coins, the Malawi Union of the Blind (MUB) have made a complaint to the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) stating that “the visually impaired community are finding it difficult to differentiate between the banknotes”. The banknotes do not have features which are easily recognisable to visually…
Following a cash theft in a South London Lloyds TSB branch, the first successful conviction of a Cash-In-Transit (CIT) crime has occurred where glue technology was used to protect the cash being transported. The new technology is built into the boxes used to transfer the cash from one place to another. When triggered the glue…