The new notes were part of a series introduced in two phases. The first new notes – the £10 and the £50 – were issued in 2010. All five denominations come equipped with these security features to prevent counterfeiting:

- Raised ink that has a distinguishing texture
- A watermark of Queen Elizabeth II featuring an electrotype watermark (lighter tones) in the tiara and denomination
- A security thread visible as silver dashes when laid flat, and visible as a continuous line when held to the light
- A partial castle on the left of the watermark that becomes a full image when held to the light
- A letter G that is only visible when the note is held to the light
- Serial numbers that show the digits progressively growing in size
- A metal strip with a complex pattern of images such as the Gibraltar castle and text which can be viewed when the feature is held up to the light. The reverse of the note bares a window and the entire feature fluoresces when examined under ultra violet light (this feature only appears on the £100 banknote)

The designs of each banknote “reflect the rich history and culture of Gibraltar, from the Moorish era to the present day,” said a pamphlet released to the public explaining the new look and features of the banknotes. “Each denomination has a portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Gibraltar, on the front, complemented by pattern work representing Gibraltar’s strategic location at the entrance to the Mediterranean, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The reverse of each of the banknotes carries a vignette which shows as aspect of Gibraltar through the ages.”

Gibraltar is located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean and is home to the famous Rock Of Gibraltar landmark.

SOURCES:
Gibraltar Stamps: “Gibraltar Banknotes”
“Know Your New Gibraltar Banknotes”

“The notes are a very high quality,” Australian Federal Police (AFP) commander David Steward told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“I do want to just encourage people to take care when they’re using ATMs particularly and they’re coming across $50 notes.”

The fake bills were being produced on three large commercial printing machines, which the AFP also seized in the raid. The most predominate bill in production on these machines was the $50 bill.

Currently, the Australian $50 bill has an abundance of security features to help prevent counterfeiting, including:

- A clear window has a stylised version of the Southern Cross printed in it, along with embossing of the number ’50′ (both can be seen from either side of the banknote);

- When the banknote is held to the light, a seven pointed star within a circle is formed by four points on one side of the banknote combining perfectly with three points on the other side.

- When the banknote is held to the light also, an image of the Australian Coat of Arms can be seen under other printing;

- The words ‘FIFTY DOLLARS’ are microprinted and can be seen with the aid of a magnifying glass;

- Slightly raised printing that can be felt with the fingers is used for the portraits and other major design elements;

- Intricate multi-coloured fine-line patterns and images appear on each side.

- The serial number of each banknote is printed twice, one in blue and one in black, on the back of the banknote.
A different font is used for each serial number. The alpha prefix of two letters is followed by two numerals representing the year of the production, followed by a further six numerals. Under ultra-violet light, the serial numbers fluoresce;

- Under ultra-violet light, a patch showing the number ’50′ becomes visible on the back of the banknote.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says one sure fire way to detect the recent influx of fake $50 notes is to check the southern cross on the translucent window. Unlike an authentic $50 bill, the cross can be scratched with your fingernails. The fake notes are also softer and lighter than the real ones.

SOURCES:

Sydney Morning Herald: “Don’t Bank on Fake Money, AFP Says”

Reserve Bank of Australia: “The Australian $50 Banknote”

To date, Czech authorities have already seized 5,245 banknotes varying in denomination and value, but the increase doesn’t necessarily translate to an increase in counterfeit notes throughout the country. According to Pavel Zúbek, spokesman for the Czech National Bank (ČNB), the increase in seized notes means police forces are conducting more successful investigations.

“Forgery statistics are usually influenced by successful police activities against counterfeiters,” Zúbek told The Prague Post, also pointing out that police completed “two big operations” over the past summer.

The counterfeit notes seized this year have ranged from US banknotes, to Euro banknotes, as well as Czech banknotes.

Czech banknotes contain many security features to prevent counterfeiting such as security fibres, printed areas visible only under ultraviolet light, colour-shifting ink and iridescent stripes.

The newest versions of the 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 Kč notes also have a windowed thread in the center, adding a special effect known as POLE that is visible only with a special devices available to businesses that handle cash.

The ČNB said the general public can also help cut down on counterfeit circulation by being aware of these security features, and is urging people to be more careful when accepting banknotes.

SOURCE:
The Prague Post: “Seizure of Forged Bank Notes On The Rise”

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”

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”

“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”

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”

Irisafe is a modern security device developed that cannot be copied by scanners or photocopiers

*This article is the last in a three-part series on counterfeiting. Read the first two articles in the series: Part 1, Part 2

Anti-counterfeiting technology in and on banknotes has been evolved more over the past 30 years than it has in the entire history of money.

Today’s banknotes are not just used as currency; they are also becoming high-tech anti-counterfeiting devices.

Because copying technology like scanners, colour photocopiers and digital imaging software not only increased in popularity but also dropped in price, the act of counterfeiting banknotes became easier in the late twentieth century. In the United States alone, it is estimated that nearly $10 billion in counterfeit bills were circulated between 1990 and 1995.

In the face of this surplus of bogus bills, the US government began improving their designs and embedding security devices in their banknotes. The US Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the division of the US government that is responsible for the actual design and printing of money crafted new 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollar bills with bigger faces, multi-coloured paper, holograms and reflective inks that change color depending on the lighting.

Around the same time, Europe was developing its single currency – the euro. Given the history of counterfeiting, and the increase in counterfeit bills in the US, officials involved in the creation of the euro to great lengths to protect the currency. Detailed images of the new banknotes weren’t publicized until almost the last moment.

The euro featured four layers of security. The first layer, watermarks and security threads, was announced to the general public. The second layer was a set of seven or eight measures that were announced to about five million professional money handlers. The third layer was another set of features to help machines spot bogus banknotes. The fourth layer still remains a secret.

Creating banknotes with multiple layers is now a common strategy to prevent counterfeiting. Fortress Paper, a leading international supplier of security and specialty papers, recently announced the launch of their multi-layered banknote paper called Durasafe, for example.

Durasafe is a hybrid banknote substrate that consists of a polymer core sandwiched between two 100 per cent cotton paper layers. The outer layers also contain “traditional” security features such as a watermark, security fibres and security threads. In addition to all that, Durasafe banknote paper also features a transparent window through all three layers maximizing the paper’s security potential.

Fortress Paper has also developed a feature called Irisafe, an iridescent striped coating that is integrated into security papers and is characterized by brilliant and changing colours when you change the angle of view. A colour copier cannot reproduce either the brilliancy or the change of colour present in this feature. At best, a photocopied forgery will show spotty stripes instead of the trademarked Irisafe qualities.

Many other security features have been introduced to banknotes around the world. Microtext (tiny repetitive letters or numbers), intaglio printing (raised lettering), holograms, and protection ornaments (markers next to the note’s denomination) are just some examples.

Intricate re-designs of banknotes every few decades, and consistent development of new security measures also provides surety that counterfeiting, while it may still exist, is definitely by no means an easy task these days.

SOURCES:
Banknotes of the Modern World: “Security Features”
“A Short History of Money”
“History of Counterfeiting”
Fortress Paper Ltd.
Global Paper Security: “The Launch of Durasafe Banknote Paper”
Global Paper Security: “Fortress Paper’s Irisafe”

Benjamin Franklin wasn't only a founding father of the United States, he was also a founding father of anti-counterfeiting devices on banknotes

*This article is the second in a three-part series on counterfeiting.

In the world of currency, developing anti-counterfeiting measures have always followed the emergence of counterfeit banknotes and coins, and they have taken on many different forms.

As seen in the previous article in this series, (read: Part 1: A History of Counterfeiting), one of the earliest attempts to deter counterfeiters was blatant threats. When paper money debuted in China during the 13th century, the notes were emblazoned with a slogan reassuring prospective criminals that counterfeiting carried with it the threat of death.

Other strategies to prevent counterfeiting often included creating currency in a very unique way, with very unique tools.

In ancient Rome, for example, craftsmen struck coins, and did not cast them in molds therefore detail to the coins could only be provided by the talented smiths.

In the age of paper money, printers developed special typefaces and type ornaments, sometimes cut by hand, in the hopes that counterfeiters would find it too expensive to reproduce the banknotes.

But soon, with more and more people worldwide having access to a printing press, counterfeiting became not only easier, but also more professional.

By the eighteenth century, particularly in America, anti-counterfeiting measures were on the rise. In 1739, Benjamin Franklin devised a series of banknotes that included realistic images of three blackberry leaves and a willow leaf. The leaves, as historian Eric P. Newman wrote, “not only had exceedingly complex detail but also internal lines that graduated in thickness.”

However, a larger problem permeated the American currency system in its first 100 years. In its infancy, America had about 1600 state banks that designed and printed their own bills. Each bill carried its own design, but the country saw nearly 7000 varieties of bills circulating. In 1862, a national currency was adopted as an attempt to prevent the counterfeiting of these bills that were sometimes unrecognizable even between states.

Some three years later, the United States Secret Service was established with a primary purpose of suppressing wide-spread counterfeiting. Throughout the early 20th century, some security features were added to banknotes, including watermarks, seals, serial numbers, and colored inks.

Anti-counterfeiting technology has been developed more over the past 30 years than in the history of money.

From polymer, security threads, iridescent strips and see-through windows, today’s banknotes are not just used as currency; they are also becoming high-tech anti-counterfeiting devices.

In the final installment of this series, we will look at some of the latest developments in banknote security measures.

SOURCES:
“History of Counterfeit Money”
“A Short History of Money”
“History of Counterfeiting”
“History of Counterfeiting”
“The Golden Age of Counterfeiting”

Nearly 200,000 counterfeit euro20 banknotes were seized in the last six months says the European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced today that the number of fake euro banknotes seized in the last six months rose by eight per cent from the first half of the year.

“In the second half of 2009 a total of 447,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation,” an ECB statement said.

Though the increase is significant, ECB officials say it is a step up from the first half of 2009, which saw a 17 per cent increase in seized counterfeit notes.

The most frequently forged bills were the euro20, which accounted for 47 per cent of the fakes, and the euro50, which accounted for 39 per cent.

The euro contains many security features that attempt to foil counterfeiters. Specific watermarks, security threads, hologram foil stripes & patches, iridescent stripes, and colour-shifting inks all play their part in deterring the reproduction of fake notes.

Though the ECB’s statement demonstrated concern at the growing ability to produce successful counterfeit euros, the Central Bank also remained steadfast in believing it was a manageable problem.

“When compared to the 12.8 billion genuine banknotes in circulation,” the ECB statement said, “the proportion of counterfeits is still very low.”

Nearly one million counterfeit euros were seized and withdrawn from circulation in 2009.

SOURCES:
Chicago Sun Times: “Amount of counterfeit euros up.”
“Fake euro seizures rise by 8%: ECB”