Nicaragua wins Best Regional Banknote of the Year

The 2016 Best Regional Banknote of the Year has been awarded to the Banco Central de Nicaragua, the country’s central bank, for its new cordoba series of banknotes. The annual award was presented by Reconnaissance International at the recent High Security Printing Latin America conference held in Mexico on 21 June 2016. According to Reconnaissance, the Banknote of the…

Russian banknotes

Russia to issue 200 and 2,000 ruble banknotes

Yesterday, the Bank of Russia issued a statement confirming that it plans to supplement its banknotes with two additional denominations: the 200 and 2,000 rubles. The new banknotes, which are expected to enter circulation by the end of 2017, are being introduced to make cash payments easier for its citizens, citing that they will help to reduce the…

Switzerland issues new 50-franc banknote

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has unveiled the new 50 franc banknote, the first of the banknotes from the long awaited ninth series. The design focuses on the element of wind. The note, which is 70mm by 137mm, is made using Landqart’s Durasafe® substrate composed of a central transparent polymer layer between two cotton paper layers…

Poland 20 zloty commemorative banknote thumbnail.

Poland issues new 20 zloty banknote

Poland’s Central Bank, the Naradowy Bank Polski, will issue a new collector 20 zloty banknote on the 12th April 2016 to commemorate the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland. The note, which was designed by Kristin Michalczuk and printed by the Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW S.A.), contains several modern security features, including De La Rue 3D lens technology based security…

Cotton fibres used in banknote paper

Ukraine manufactures linen fibre banknotes

Ukraine’s Central Bank, the National Bank of Ukraine, has manufactured its first batch of banknote paper using linen fibres. A press release issued by the Bank on 23 March 2016 details how Ukrainian banknote paper manufacturers have been investigating the possibility of manufacturing banknote paper by mixing traditional cotton fibres with other plant fibres, such…

Australia 10 banknote thumbnail

Australia sees rise in counterfeit banknotes

There have been several reports in the global media regarding an increase of counterfeit banknotes in Australia. The sources relate to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Annual Report which identified a 63% increase in counterfeit banknotes withdrawn from circulation during the 2014/15 period. This equated to 37,000 notes with a nominal value of $2.0 million, which…