This article is part of a continuing series that looks at security features in development for the security paper industry.

It’s not a connection you can make everyday, but some leading cancer research could also prove to be an important development for the security paper industry.

Quantum dots are a discovery of nanotechnology (much like the recent research on butterfly mimicry as a security device) and are showing how the most miniscule elements are leading the way in security devices.

The tiny dots are engineered individual crystals that emit intense light and they double as semiconductors. The conducting characteristics are closely related to the size and shape of the individual crystal meaning that the smaller the crystal, the more energy is needed to “excite” the dot. Because each the crystals aren’t uniform, each dot is unique and shines a variety of colours when “excited” by something like a UV light. This is one of the predominant benefits to the quantum dots because whereas fluorescent dyes and watermarks can only display a single band, quantum dots can display a whole range of colours providing each item with a unique “barcode.”

One of the amazing things about these nanoscale dots is that they were not solely developed as a security device. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed “water-soluble” quantum dots to aid in biological research. Bright, stable, and tiny, these quantum dots “are engineered to attach themselves to particular proteins [and thus] have become a popular research tool in areas such as cancer research for detecting, labeling and tracking specific biomarkers and cells.”

Outside of the medical research, some companies have already begun the process of developing inks and paints for security and anti-counterfeiting measures that can be applied to surfaces like paper, plastic or metal. However, according to Vicki Singer, senior consultant for corporate development at Life Technologies – a California-based company that makes quantum dots – whether or not banks are interested in this technology for banknotes or other security devices is a secretive affair. Whether or not anyone is actually using quantum dots on banknotes already is even more secret.

SOURCES:
Evident Tech: “Quantum Dot Applications”
John Mongillo: “Nanotechnology 101”
“Quantum Dots”
Lab Spaces: “Microwave Synthesis Connects With The Quantum Dots”
Canadian Business Magazine: “Counterfeit Cat-and-Mouse”

Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research are developing new ways to use fluorescence as an enhanced security feature for banknotes

The security paper industry is no stranger to the use of fluorescence. Often used in banknotes, fluorescence provides a unique security device that can only be revealed under ultra violet (UV) lights.

On the Canadian $20 bill, for example, the words “Bank of Canada/Banque du Canada” glow red and yellow on the bill’s left side when placed under UV lights. Similarly, a security thread on the US $100 bill containing the text “USA 100” glows red under UV lights. Numbered panels printed in fluorescent ink on Indian rupees can also only
be detected under UV lights.

Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research, however, are finding new ways to use fluorescence in way that is not only new and revolutionary, but also more secure.

Instead of adding individual fluorescent devices on one specific part of the banknote, researchers at Fraunhofer are testing ways to add fluorescent dyes to the entire banknote.

To understand how this research may prove to be revolutionary, you first have to understand how fluorescence works.

Professor Julian Gray of the Georgia Mineral Society explains:

“Minerals are composed of atoms, which in turn contain electrons at specific energy levels. Ultraviolet light is an energy source. When we shine an ultraviolet lamp on a mineral that fluoresces, the atoms that make up the mineral absorb energy from the light by moving electrons to higher energy levels. However, the electrons cannot remain in this unstable, excited state. When the energized electrons return to the original lower energy level, they give back the difference in energy by emitting visible light. This is what causes the mineral to produce light. As long as the ultraviolet lamp energy source is on, electrons are continually jumping from lower to higher energy levels and back, in the process producing the wonderful fluorescent colors that we see. If the mineral only produces light when ultraviolet light is shining on the mineral, this is called fluorescence.”

When it comes to security devices, typically only one or two mineral dyes are used to create the feature. Since various dyes react to different properties, the researchers at Fraunhofer decided to add multiple dyes to the whole banknote producing “an individualized marker” that is “exceedingly difficult to imitate.”

Moreover, because the mixture of dyes is a not only unique (and presumably one that will be kept secret) but is also relatively minimal (just a few parts per billion), researchers assert that it will be “virtually impossible to decode the type and quantity of the dye additives thus making the product counterfeit proof.

Because the dye is added to the entirety of the banknote, counterfeiters cannot remove the feature. Whereas fluorescent spots can – in theory – be removed from a secure document, say researchers, this feature permeates the entire material and is “itself a component of the identification label.”

Beside counterfeit protection, the process is also suitable for an effective quality assurance, such as with coatings: With the aid of various dyes, manufacturers can monitor the chemical composition, degree of dryness and the thickness of the coat during the production process.

Dr. Andreas Holländer, one of the scientists at Fraunhofer, says if this fluorescent security device is adopted by the security paper industry, the key to its success will be the creation of dye mixtures specific to individual products so a standard solution for products across the board would be highly discouraged.

“One reason for the high degree of security of our technology is precisely because there are only material-specific solutions,” says Holländer.

SOURCES
Nanowerk: “Brilliant Counterfeit Protection”
Science Learning: “UV and Fluorescence”
Bank of Canada
Banknote.org: “USA Banknotes’ Security Features”
Reserve Bank of India: “Fluorescence”
Georgia Mineral Society: “Fluorescence by Julian C. Gray”

The Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group (CBCDG) is a group of 31 central banks and note printing authorities that investigates emerging threats to banknote security and proposes solutions for these threats.

Consisting of members from countries around the world including Canada, the United States, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Japan, France, Greece the United Kingdom, the CBCDG also supports and deploys technologies that deter the use of digital equipment – such as colour photocopiers and ink jet printers – to counterfeit currency.

A recent article written by Antti Heinonen, the Principal Advisor for the European Central Bank and a member of the CBCDG, details these technologies as having a dramatic “paradigm change” on the banknote industry saying these “new threats triggered the development of new security features” in banknotes.
Enter the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group, a group that was first put into practice in 1992, and was initially formed as a governing body to help G10 banks deal with increased counterfeiting due to colour copying. Under the moniker Special Study Group on Modern Reproduction Technologies (SSG-2), the group began working within the colour copier industry to develop techniques and technologies to prevent successful forgeries.

As we wrote earlier this month, one of the first big steps for the CBCDG was the development of anti-counterfeiting software – Counterfeit Deterrence System (CDS) – added to programs such as Adobe Photoshop that would generate an error message if a user attempt to scan banknotes. The group also lobbied printer manufacturers and copier manufacturers to include the same software upgrades, resulting in misprints or blank pages if banknotes were copied.

Today, the CBCDG not only works with banks but also with law enforcement agencies to recognize counterfeiting trends and provide solutions.

Working very closely with the technology sector, the CBCDG closely monitors new developments in digital technology in order to stay one step ahead of counterfeiters.

Of course, an easy step to preventing fake bills can be as simple as public education. “Informing and educating the general public and professional cash handlers about banknote security features,” writes Heinonen, is now a necessity for central banks.

SOURCES:
Counting On Currency: “Counterfeit Deterrence – Beating The Criminal Element”
Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group: “FAQs”
“Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group”
Global Paper Security: “How Computer Software Can Prevent Counterfeiting”

It may sound like something straight out of the crime-drama CSI, but scientists in Brazil and the US are developing a method of identifying “fingerprints” on banknotes in order to spot counterfeits.

The process is done using what chemists call a “mass spectrometric technique” that can detect the authenticity of a banknote in seconds.

This technique allows analysts to recognize the chemical makeup of the banknote by identifying individual structures of the note’s particular molecules.

The “fingerprint” is determined by conducting tests on the molecules. By vaporizing a sample, and breaking the sample down into ions with the help of a laser beam, distinct patterns emerge in the mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio of the particles. Studies of authentic banknotes will reveal that multiple samples contain the same m/z ratios, while fake banknotes reveal a different set of distinct markets that is noticeably different.

Obviously, this is not a security feature that the average citizen will be able to employ, but researchers say this mode of identification could help speed up investigations at forensic laboratories that are bogged down with increasing forgery cases. Though this process sounds complex, the identification of a fake note using the mass
spectrometric technique only takes seconds.

In addition to being used to detect counterfeited currency, Brazilian researchers are working together with the Brazilian Federal Police and banknote manufacturers to find ways of adding unique chemical signatures to bills, either as an ink splotch, an invisible stamp, or a bar code.

SOURCES:
RSC.org: “Revealing Fake Money”
“Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization”
“Mass Spectrometry”

In an effort to keep up to date with anti-counterfeiting technology and increasingly high-tech security features on banknotes around the world, the Bankgko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in the Phillipines announced this week that it will launch a new series of banknotes in December 2010.

“We want to take advantage of these technologies,” BSP Monetary Stability sector Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told the Phil Star.

As a result, the new generation notes (the Piso) – issued in the P20, P50, P100, P200, P500, and P1,000 denominations – will contain heightened security features that aim not only to deter counterfeiting but also help make it easier for the public to detect fraudulent bills among their currency.

“As a matter of practice, central bans regularly change the designs of the money – whether coins or banknotes – to guard against counterfeiters,” another BSP source said. “By making it very difficult and costly for counterfeiters to produce exact copies of our money, we protect the integrity of our currency against criminals.”

Currently, the Piso banknotes contain standard security features such as security threads, security fibres, watermarks, invisible fluorescent inks, optically variable ink, microprint, moiré pattern and an iridescent band.
Other banknotes around the world have been outfitted with some of the most modern security devices known in the banknote industry recently. The new American $100 bill, for example, contains 3D holographs. Other up-and-coming anti-counterfeit devices include quantum dots (nanoscale dots that emit intense light), pixelating watermarks (photos that appear to be 3D because of the way the shades are printed), the reproduction of intricate patterns akin to butterfly scales, and see-through windows rooted between the layers of a polymer banknote.

Though the BSP hasn’t said which new features will be embedded in the notes, the central bank has said they will undertake a nationwide information campaign to educate Filipinos on the new features and help them learn how to tell genuine banknotes from counterfeits.

In terms of design, the new banknotes will pay tribute to Filipinos who played significant roles at various moments of the nation’s history and will also feature world heritage sites and iconic natural wonders of the Philippines.

The BSP also has plans to issue a new series of coins which aren’t expected to be circulated until 2012.

The current Piso series, which includes both coins and banknotes, hasn’t received a re-vamp in nearly 30 years.

SOURCES:
PhilStar.com: “BSP To Redesign Banknotes and Coins”
PhilStar.com: “BSP to Release 1st Batch of New Banknotes In December”
Philippine Coins and Banknotes: “FAQs: BSP Banknote and Coin Resdesign”
Bankgko Sentral ng Pilipinas: “BSP Notes & Coins”

Trying to scan a banknote with Corel Paint Shop Pro would result in this message popping up on your computer screen

While security features embedded in banknotes are the first line of defense when it comes to protection against counterfeiting, businesses and governments outside of the industry also take steps to help avoid forgeries.

In 2004, the European Union drafted legislation to try and compel computer and software manufacturers to make products that were not able to counterfeit banknotes. That year, the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group (CBCDG) – an organization of 27 leading world banks – developed and distributed anti-counterfeiting software that computer and software manufacturers could voluntarily incorporate into their products.

Many companies latched on to the idea.

Adobe Photoshop – a mainstay graphics software – would generate an error message if a user attempted to scan banknotes, and a number of printer manufacturers used the software in such a way that only an inch of a banknote would reproduce followed by the web address of a site displaying regulations governing the reproduction of money.

Another graphic program, Corel Paint Shop Pro, would automatically flash this message on the screen should a banknote try to be copied:

“This application does not support the unauthorized processing of banknote images. For more information, select the information button below for Internet-based information on restrictions for copying and distributing banknote images or go to www.rulesforuse.org.”

Similarly, Hewlett Packard introduced printers able to detect similarities only found on currencies. When printed, the printer automatically altered the colours so the difference between the final product and the original banknote were unmistakable.

Though these developments began some six years ago, many of these companies have kept up to date with anti-counterfeiting measures. Photoshop, for example, continues to include what they call a “counterfeit deterrence system (CDS)” which prevents users from opening detailed images of banknotes altogether.

However, since every country has different laws about banknote reproduction (banknotes can be copied in the US for example for artistic representation), the CBCDG is still in operation, and provides detailed instructions on its website about the rules and regulations regarding banknote reproduction around the world.

SOURCES:
Adobe: “Counterfeit Deterrence System”
Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group
The Guardian: “Security Clampdown On the Home PC Banknote Forgers”

India will begin printing Rs500 & Rs1,000 banknotes on securitized "blue paper" in an effort to deter counterfeiting in the country.

After a significant “large-scale circulation of fake notes” throughout India over the past year, the Indian government has decided to begin printing Rs500 and Rs1,000 on special blue security paper to curtail counterfeiting in the region.

Blue paper is made by combining cotton and linen fibre with a special dye that only glows under ultraviolet rays. This dye also ensures the paper – which eventually in this case will be made into banknotes – also radiates a unique blue hue that makes it virtually impossible for colour photocopiers to reproduce.

The Indian government says the switch will not only deter counterfeiters, but will also pay off in the long run.
“The blue security paper has higher durability compared to normal currency notes. While it is costlier to produce, it is cheaper than having to deal with fake currency,” said a senior official.

Though it is an important component in the world of banknote security, blue paper is not a new idea. The first recorded mention of blue paper comes from Italy in the 14th century, where it was first used by artists as mounts for drawings. Over the centuries, blue paper sometimes became an alternative to white paper and was used in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries for books.

Around the same time, manufacturers of blue paper began dyeing the paper pulp instead of using disintegrated rags which resulted in the paper achieving more intense colours.

Today, blue paper has moved from the artistic realm to the security realm thanks to this dyeing process. Because the dye is applied to the entirety of the banknote and not just to select locations on the note, the paper itself becomes a security feature and is, as researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research have said about notes using fluorescent dyes, “itself a component of the identification label.”

Colour is an important security feature as well. Embedding additional colour designs to the blue paper is beneficial to paper producers who specialize in anti-counterfeit devices.

Printing of the Rs500 and Rs1,000 banknotes is scheduled to get underway by August and the new notes are expected to enter into circulation by December 2010.

SOURCES:
BNet: “Blue Paper To Be used For Rs500-1,000 Notes”
The American Institute for Conservation: “Historical Manufacture and Use of Blue Paper”
Nanowerk: “Brilliant Counterfeit Protection”
Polymernotes.org: “A Paradigm Shift In Bank Note Security; Security Features in Polymer Bank Notes”

The Pixel Watermark not only produces different shades, it also makes the images - like this angel's wing on a commemorative Mexican 200-peso not - appear 3D

This article is part of a continuing series that looks at security features in development for the security paper industry.

One of the most familiar – and recognizable – banknote security features is the watermark. First introduced in the 13th century in Italy, a watermark is an image or pattern on the security paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when held against the light.

A watermark can take many forms, but some of the more identifiable marks are usually found elsewhere on the bill. The Canadian $20 bill, for example, features a watermark which is a smaller version of the note’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, while the new American $100 bill’s watermark is a smaller portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

Despite the fact that watermarks are one of the most common security features for banknotes, and one of the most effective anti-counterfeit devices, some countries have taken watermark technology a step further to prevent currency forgery.

In 2009, the Bank of Mexico was the first to introduce the world to a new watermark called the Pixel Watermark. Consisting of patterns of dark dots of varying sizes on light backgrounds, the Pixel Watermark sets itself apart from regular watermarks in that the colouring of the pixels in the image creates an almost 3D effect.

Though the first bill to feature the Pixel Watermark was a commemorative 200-peso note, countries in Asia and Latin America have since adopted the security feature.

And the Pixel Watermark is picking up steam elsewhere. Recently, the security device won the award for the Best New Currency Feature at the 2010 Excellence in Currency Awards held in Buenos Aires. The watermark beat out other high-tech, new-to-the-industry security features like the Depth Image, a 3D hologram with strong colour switching and contrast.

SOURCES:
Currency News: “2010 Excellency in Currency Award Winners”
“Watermark”
Banknote News: “Pixel Watermark Debuts on Mexico 200-Peso Commemorative”
Bank of Canada: “Security Features”
Personal Money Store: “New 100 Dollar Bill Debuts To Help Fight Counterfeit Rings”
“Depth Image Hologram”

Currency makers are fighting a constant battle to stay ahead of counterfeiters, and the bills in your wallet are the product of countless hours of R&D, combining some of the latest developments in chemistry, physics and material science. And with both Canada and the U.S. introducing new bills next year, they’re about to become a lot more sophisticated.

U.S. officials recently unveiled the new $100 bill, which features a wide ribbon that displays moving images when tilted. A stream of bells and the number 100 float along the ribbon in counterintuitive directions; tilt the bill side-to-side, and the images move up and down. The illusion is created by a layer of nearly one million tiny lenses overtop the images.

“The security ribbon is going to pose a tremendous burden to counterfeiters,” says Michael Lambert, an assistant director at the Federal Reserve Board. The technology had been under development since 2004 by Crane & Co., the Massachusetts-based company that has supplied the U.S. with currency paper since 1879. Even though the ribbon is complex, counterfeiters will no doubt try to replicate it, forcing central banks to explore new features.

An emerging tech­nology called quantum dots could be­come a widespread anti-counterfeit measure. These particles, about 10 to 20 nanometres in diameter, consist of a semiconductor material, such as cadmium, in a zinc shell, and emit an intense light. Many currencies already have watermarks, but quantum dots can display a whole range of colours under a UV light, whereas current dyes can only display a single band. “There’s no other chemical entity like them,” says Vicki Singer, senior consultant for corporate development at Life Technologies in California, which manufactures quantum dots. The process to create them is mind-bogglingly complicated, unlike today’s dyes. Singer won’t divulge which central banks are interested in the technology, nor if it’s being used in some form already, and others in the industry are not aware of any currency using quantum dots today.

“It’s certainly an area that’s interesting,” says Doug Crane, vice-president at Crane & Co. “But it’s not an overt security device for the public.” Crane argues ideal security features are instantly recognizable to anyone, without the use of equipment. Cost is always a factor when implementing a new feature, as well. The new U.S. $100 bill, for all of its purported advances, costs only an extra 3.5¢ to produce.

The Bank of Canada is also ushering in a new era of currency security, but won’t reveal much about the bills debuting next year, other than that they will be made of plastic. “The material permits us to incorporate security features that are more difficult to counterfeit,” says Bank of Canada spokesperson Julie Girard. Canada was among the worst countries for counterfeiting a few years ago, but increased enforcement measures are reducing the problem. Plastic banknotes may help even further.

The first plastic bill was introduced in 1988 in Australia. The primary benefit is durability (the bills supposedly last two to four times longer than paper), but research on the material began as a way to thwart counterfeiting. Plastic allows manufacturers to easily include a transparent window in bills, and laser etching a hologram into the window, as Australia does, makes accurate forgery very difficult. Counterfeiting is negligible in Australia today.

Those who manufacture paper currency are skeptical. “Nobody around the world was trying to counterfeit the Australian dollar,” counters Chad Wasilenkoff, CEO of Fortress Paper in Vancouver. “It’s a relatively closed geographic area.” Fortress is the sole manufacturer of Swiss banknotes, and last December launched a new bill with a layer of plastic sandwiched between two layers of paper. The bill allows for a window without sacrificing the feel of a banknote.

Texture is generally the first line of defense against counterfeiting, which is where plastic currency runs into difficulty. “It’s not very hard to replicate from a feel point of view,” Crane says. While both sides of the paper-versus-plastic debate may claim superiority, neither is bold enough to assert a bill can deter counterfeiters entirely — no matter how advanced the technology becomes. “For criminals who make their livelihood out of counterfeiting currency,” says Lambert at the Fed, “they’re always going to look for ways to do it.”

By Joe Castaldo for Canadian Business Magazine.

SOURCE:
Canadian Business Magazine: “Counterfeiting Cat-and-Mouse”

An Indonesian Peacock or Swallowtail butterfly Photo: Cambridge University

In the world of banknote security, anti-counterfeit technology has to be developed at a feverish pace. To keep ahead of counterfeiters, banknote producers have to be consistently inventing and innovating new features to deter the future creation of bogus bills.

Recently, a number of security devices have been introduced that are proving to be revolutionary to the banknote industry. From the new US $100 bill’s 3D Liberty Bell, to Bermuda’s Optiks thread on its $2 bill, to Fortress Paper’s see-through window, banknote makers across the globe show that high-tech security features are the key to a secure banknote.

Teams of researchers and industry professionals are at the helm of developing these new technologies, but sometimes the idea for a security feature comes from an unexpected source – such as butterflies.

Research conducted by scientists at the University of Cambridge found distinctive iridescent patterns on the Indonesian Peacock Swallowtail butterfly that could – with some work – be reproduced as a near-impossible-to-copy security device for banknotes.

The wings of the Swallowtail have an intricate, multi-layered, microscopic makeup that produce intense depth and colour, and it is this multiplicity of layers (which look a little like the inside of an egg carton) that may open the doors to new security technology in banknotes.

Long a mystery to scientists, a butterfly’s colours are produced by light bouncing off microscopic structures on the insects’ wings instead of relying on pigment. The researchers at Cambridge were one of the first teams to devise a method of reproducing these intense colours and patterns.

Using a combination of nanofabrication procedures (recreating things on an miniscule atomic level) the Cambridge scientists made structurally identical copies of the butterfly scales, and these copies produced the same vivid colours as the butterflies’ wings.

So what does all this have to do with banknotes?

The idea is that now that scientists understand how to reproduce these colours and patterns on a microscopic level, they can apply this knowledge to banknotes to create specialized security features that will not only mimic the vividness of the colours and the intricacies of the patters, but also be near impossible to copy.

“These artificial structures could be used to encrypt information in optical signatures on banknotes or other valuable items to protect them against forgery. We still need to refine our system but in future we could see structures based on butterflies wings shining from a £10 note or even our passports,” says Mathias Kolle, one of the lead researchers for the Cambridge study. “Although nature is better at self-assembly than we are, we have the advantage that we can use a wider variety of artificial, custom-made materials to optimise our optical structures.”

Though the research is complete, and the findings have been published in Nature Nanotechnology Journal, there is no word yet on whether security paper makers have taken the next step to begin applying this research to security papers such as banknotes and passports.

SOURCES:
Science Daily: “From Butterflies’ Wings to Banknotes: How Nature’s Colours Could Cut Bank Fraud”
TG Daily: “Butterflies’ Wings Could Cut Bank Fraud”
The Telegraph UK: “Scientists Use Butterflies In Fight Against Banknote Forgery”