A new series of Scottish banknotes celebrating Scotland’s heritage, people and culture took home for award for Best New Banknote at the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) Excellence in Currency Awards last month.

The banknotes are not only complete with a rich pictorial history, they are also specially designed for the visually impaired using vibrant colours, different izes, bold fonts and raised bars to help in the identification of the note.

The new series – which was released by Scotland’s Clydesdale Bank – also contains a number of important security features such as a distinguishable watermark, a security thread visible when the note is titled, a see-through emblem on the bottom of the note, microprinting, UV markers, and a latent image.

The series also earned the award for Best Currency Public Education for the bank’s year-long media initiative leading up to the launch of the series earlier this year.

The Bank of Mexico’s Pixelating Watermark won the award for Best New Security Feature while De La Rue’s Depth Image and Magic Verifeye received both runner up awards.

The IACA awards – which some have deemed the “Oscars of the Currency Industry” – have been taking place since 2007 with the goal of promoting and recognizing excellence in currency production, processing, management and distribution.

Aside from the awards mentioned above, the IACA also distributes awards for Best New Coin or Coin Series, Best New Currency Innovation, Best Currency Website and Outstanding Achievement/Lifetime Achievement Award.

The next IACA awards will take place in October 2011 in Singapore.

SOURCES:

Counting On Currency: “2010 IACA Currency Awards”

Currency Affairs: “Excellence In Currency Awards”

The Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers: “Current Banknotes: Clydesdale Bank”

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”

The new high-tech $100 US bill will be available in February 2011. Source: Getty Images

The new US $100 banknote is being called “the next generation one hundred” by the US Treasury Department.

Along with a redesign of the bill’s graphic layout and the addition of some colour, several new security features have been added to the bill while some old ones maintain their presence.

The newest, and arguably the most technologically advanced, security feature is a 3-D ribbon crossing the center of the bill. The images on the ribbon – bells that transform to numeral 100s that turn back into images of bells – move as the bill is tilted.

Next to the ribbon is another 3-D device that embeds a colour-changing Liberty Bell inside an inkwell when the bill is tilted at various angles.

Other new features can be found in the bill’s denomination both on the front and back. The “100” on the front shifts from copper to green when tilting the note and a large gold numeral 100 on the back helps people with visual impairments recognize the bill more easily.

This video, put together by the U.S. Treasury, details some of the bill’s high-tech features:

The new bill also contains multiple traditional security features. Raised printing, microprinting, a security thread, and a Benjamin Franklin watermark are all part of the banknote’s anti-counterfeiting measures.

The new notes will be available on February 10, 2011 and old bills will continue to be accepted until they wear out.

SOURCES:
The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Unveils New $100 Bill”
The Week: “New $100 Bill: Too Sci-Fi?”
You Tube: “$100 Note Unveiling Video”

An arial view of the Landqart Mill in Switzerland.

Fortress Paper owns and operates two paper mills in Europe – the Dresden Mill and the Landqart Mill. Each with a specific task, the mills are responsible for Fortress’ output of paper products including wallpaper, banknotes, security paper, and more. This article takes a closer look at the Landqart Mill in Landqart, Switzerland.

For over 100 years, the Landqart Mill has been responsible for the production of security and specialty papers. Encompassing products such as banknotes, visa papers, tickets, passport paper, watermarked paper, bristol board and more, the Landqart Mill has developed a strong reputation for being a leader within the security paper industry. The mill has also become a global player in the growing market for trademark protection.

LANDQART, A SHORT HISTORY
The Landqart Mill was originally constructed in 1872 with one paper machine, with a second one being added almost 25 years later. By the twentieth century, the Landqart Mill saw a steady increase in business, adding yet another paper machine to maximize output.

With Europe thriving under a technology boom in the 1960s, Landqart was able to confront the world market more efficiently. The existing mill merged with other paper factories on the Sihl River and switched their focus from a manufacturer of graphic paper to a reputed supplier of security paper. The production of banknotes was key to the new developments at Landqart – so much so that the mill became the sole provider for the Swiss currency in 1979.

In 2003, the Landqart Mill opened a high performance heat embossment plant for the application of film in strips or as patches onto security paper. This technology was implemented into banknote production, allowing the mill to produce high-tech, anti-counterfeit bills.

In 2007, Fortress Paper – a Vancouver-based security and specialty paper company – purchased the Landqart Mill and has been developing, testing, and producing new innovative security products on site ever since.

LANDQART TODAY
The Landqart Mill produces banknotes of over 100 currency denominations for more than 25 countries around the globe. In addition to still being the sole provider of the Swiss currency, the mill is one of only nine suppliers of banknote paper for the Euro currency.

Using its extensive knowledge of security papers and features, the mill also develops products for more commercial purposes, such as electronic passports. This January, Fortress Paper announced the signing of a contract that will see the mill produce approximately 2,500,000 e-passports over the next five years (read “Fortress Paper Announces EPassport Contract”).

On top of that, Fortress also announced in February that it had received funding to rebuild one of its primary paper machines at Landqart, the PM1. Currently used for lower margin specialty papers and low to medium security papers, the rebuild of the machine will increase the mill’s production capacity four times over – from 2,500 tonnes per year to 10,000 tonnes per year (read “Fortress Paper Announces Signing of EUR18.5 Million Loan for PM1 Rebuild”).

USING STEAM TO GO GREEN
Producing security papers and banknotes aren’t the only innovations with which the Landqart Mill engages. The mill has also developed a unique strategy to combat its environmental emissions with the use of steam.

Steam is an important component of creating paper. It’s used as a primary source of heat in the process of converting pulp to paper and while many paper mills would burn fossil fuels on-site to generate this steam, Landqart actually re-uses steam that comes from a nearby refuse incinerating plant.

The steam has to travel nearly 7km through a pipeline that connects the plant to the mill. Landqart agrees that the pipeline is perhaps “unconventional,” but is going a long way – literally – to protect “natural resources and reduce CO2 emissions into the environment” in the production of paper which they are using to create – among other things – banknotes.

SOURCES:
Landqart: Swiss Special Paper
Fortress Paper Ltd.
Landqart: “Responsibility for Nature and Environment”

All banknotes are intricately designed with particular pictures, security features and unique stories.
This article posted on CNNGo.com takes a closer look at seven of the most interesting intricacies of Asian currency.

Funny money: The wacky world of Asian currencies
by La Carmina @ CNNGo.com

#1- India: Thumbs-up and peace sign rupees

India’s one-rupee coin has an image of a hand giving the thumbs up. On the two rupee, the fingers form a peace sign. These coins were designed with the blind in mind, but they’re also useful for the numerically illiterate (just count the fingers.)

#2 – Hong Kong: Plastic dollars
Plastic money is no longer a nickname just for credit cards. In July 2008, Hong Kong issued bright, high-detail HK$10 bills made from polymer, potentially making dirty money a thing of the past: these notes can be washed with water and even soap.

#3 – China: Fake and real Chairman Mao yuan

In China, counterfeit bills sometimes slip into circulation, like the topmost 100-yuan bill. How to tell? Rub Mao Zedong’s jacket. The genuine note has ridges while the fake one is smooth. The black line is also more pronounced on the real deal.

#4 – Indonesia: Big money rupiahs

Quite a few visitors to Indonesia will have spread out their freshly-exchanged currency and rolled around in it, squealing “I’m rich!” It’s not unusual for locals to carry around millions of rupiah. Too bad a 50,000 bill is worth a paltry US$5.

#5 – North Korea: “The Eternal President” on three denominations

North Korean money lives up to the country’s topsy-turvy reputation. Visitors are issued a separate currency: Red banknotes for socialists and green ones for capitalists. The national system is just as confusing. The 100, 1,000 and 5,000 won bills have the exact same Kim Il-Sung design, only in different colors.

#6 – South Korea: Controversy over a historical armillary clock

In 2007, the Bank of Korea released 10,000 banknotes with a Joseon dynasty astronomical clock on the back. Historians went up in arms because the image depicted a similar invention, the Chinese honchonui, and not the 17th century Korean honchonsigye. The bank dismissed their demands for a re-design as nitpicking.

#7 – Macau: The Motherland stakes its claim

Macau was a Portuguese territory until it was handed back to China in 1999. Although Banco Nacional Ultramarino currency is still legal tender, China flexed its muscle by issuing four million 20-pataca banknotes that commemorate the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The press release explains: “In this way, citizens of the MSAR are able to share the joys of hosting such a magnificent international event by the Motherland.”

SOURCE:
CNNGo.com: “Funny money: The wacky world of Asian currencies”

Paper money was developed in China around 960 A.D., but when it was 1,000 years later that money counterfeiting flourished within America. Counterfeiters had become so skilled that when the first federal coins were issued by the U.S. government in the 1780′s, they had the dies cut by an ex-counterfeiter in order to deter the practice. However, during the Civil War counterfeiting flourished once more because the United States government issued paper money for the first time. New Security threats posed by the commercialization of color copying, scanner use, and printing technologies mean that security paper producers have to keep up with the demand to create new paper-based security products. Here’s a list of a few security features to prevent counterfeiting that are manufactured and embedded into the paper before it reaches the printing process:

Ben Franklin depicted in Watermark form

Watermarks: customizable markers which are naked to the visible eye. The papermakers of southern Europe were most likely the first to extensively use watermarks. One way they were used is to differentiate the product of individual master papermakers within each papermill to resolve disputes when one papermaker would accuse another of theft. Watermarks can also be found as part of any high quality stationery. Even Ben Franklin’s stationery had its own personal watermark!

Security Threads: The use of security threads was a logical progression from the use of embedded fiber. The difference between the two is the security thread is placed regularly in each note, as a thin ribbon threaded through the note’s paper. Threads are embedded within the paper fiber and can be completely invisible or have a star burst effect, where the thread appears to weave in and out of the paper when viewed from one side.

Security Fibers: Benjamin Franklin made a historic attempt to embed material into banknote paper when he used crushed pieces of mica to try to produce a specialty paper. While this was a failed endeavor on Franklin’s part, the use of colored and fluorescent fibers has been successful since they were patented by Philadelphia native and first used in American banknotes in 1869.