Kuwait to issue 6th banknote series

On May 19th 2014 the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) unveiled the sixth banknote series of the Kuwaiti currency. The CBK has released a promotional video as part of its Sixth banknote issue educational campaign, which is narrated in Arabic: The new series will be issued into circulation from 29 June 2014. The banknote series feature…

IBNS 2013 Banknote of the Year Nominations

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…

Egypt 20 banknote

Egypt banknote issuance increases

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…

Bank of England building

Bank of England allows filming of £1m and £100m notes

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…

Bacteria in petri dish

Cleaning Dirty Money

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…

Bank of England Confirms Polymer Banknotes

A press release issued today by the Bank of England has announced that polymer £5 and £10 banknotes will be issued from 2016. The new notes will use similar designs to the existing £5 and £10 banknotes currently in circulation – including similar colour schemes as the previous notes and a portrait of Her Majesty…

New Swiss Banknotes to be issued from 2015

At a media news conference held on the 12 December in Berne, Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) advised that the first of its new denomination series will not be issued until 2015 at the earliest. The release of the new banknotes has suffered a series of delays but the SNB states that due to…

Bermuda legacy banknote

Bermuda Legacy Banknotes Deadline Approaches

The Bermudan Monetary Authority (BMA) is reminding the public that the legacy, horizontal Bermuda banknotes will no longer be legal tender after 31st December 2013. A press release issued by the Bermuda Monetary Authority included an explanation from Shanna Lespere, Director of Operations: “Back in June, the Authority announced that the legacy banknote series will…