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New Bahamian Banknote Series

In October 2021, the Central Bank of the Bahamas released its new $100 banknote, completing the roll-out of its CRISP (Counterfeit Resistant Integrated Security Product) Evolution series which it began back in 2016.

The new series is – as the name suggests – an evolution of the original CRISP series first introduced in 2005, and is remarkable both for incorporating a broad cross-section of substrates, printers (including Orell Füssli, Crane Currency, De La Rue, Giesecke+Devrient and Canadian Bank Note) and features, and for its introduction of multiple firsts for feature-substrate pairings.

In total, the family comprises eight notes – ranging from from $½ to $100 notes.

The $1 and $5 were printed on Louisenthal’s Hybrid composite substrate with a RolllingStar thread.

The paper $20 was produced by De La Rue and features its Active thread. This made its debut on the new $10, issued in 2016, albeit that this was subsequently replaced by a note from Crane Currency with a RAPID Detect 4mm micro-optic security thread.

The $50 was produced on Landqart’s Durasafe substrate, and includes a MOTION RAPID thread from Crane. Not only was this the first note in the world to integrate the micro-optics feature into the composite substrate, but the window itself (at 33mm) is the longest to appear in a circulating note.

The eighth and final banknote of the new series – the $100 – was printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company on Durasafe substrate. It features a MOTION Surface stripe from Crane, another first for the combination of the two technologies.

New ECCB Banknote Series

In March 2021, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) issued its new $5 polymer banknote, completing the transition of the Eastern Caribbean dollar to De La Rue’s SAFEGUARD polymer that began in 2019. According to the ECCB, the reasons for the transition were threefold – the environment, cost, and security.

The banknotes are denominated in 5, 10, 20 50 and 100 dollars, and key to the ECCB’s decision to switch to polymer was the environment, according to its Governor, Timothy Antoine. The Caribbean is one of the lowest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world, he said, but one of the regions most impacted by global warming. The islands have a target of being net zero by 2022 and are well on the way to achieving this goal. The longer lifespan and lower environmental impact of polymer is part of this focus, as well as demonstrating moral authority and taking action on global warming.

The switch will also save on costs and allowed for the incorporation of advanced new security features.

The notes have been changed to a vertical orientation but remain the same size and dimensions – all uniform regardless of denomination. The colour scheme of the previous series has also been retained to aid public recognition and acceptance of the new notes, as have many of the design features, albeit that they have a much fresher and more modern appearance, helped by the portrait orientation.

They also incorporate a unique tactile emboss feature to aid recognition by the blind and visually impaired.

Mexican 50 & 100 Pesos

The winner of the Best New Banknote was the Banco de México for not one but two notes – the new 50 and 100 pesos. The former – the sixth and final note in the new G series, was issued last November. It is produced on CCL Secure’s GUARDIAN polymer, along with the 100 pesos, issued the previous year, and the 20 pesos, also issued in 2021, which is a commemorative note celebrating the country’s bicentennial.

The design theme throughout the new series is events, buildings or people reflecting key stages in Mexican history on the front, and images reflecting the country’s eco-heritage and biodiversity on the reverse.

Both the 50 and the 100 are in a vertical orientation, front and back. Each incorporates a large complex transparent window that feature G-SWITCH and METALIX inks. The former changes colour from blue to gold when tilted. The latter is copper-coloured. They also incorporate an integrated magnetic thread and SPARK Live denoting the denomination numeral.

Honduras 200 lempira

One is the 200 lempira commemorative note issued last September by the Central Bank of Honduras (albeit that this is a new denomination, so it has become de facto a circulation note).

Honduras is known for its rich biodiversity and natural resources, which is reflected on the reverse of the note, showing two scarlet macaws (the national bird) flying over the UNESCO-listed Río Plátano Biosphere. The main image on the front of the note of children reading denotes the importance of education, which is seen one of the one of the fundamental pillars for the development of the nation

The 200 lempira note is the first in the world to feature a registered Galaxy thread with different and precisely positioned windows. When tilting the banknote, a change can be observed in the upper and lower windows from a bell, to 200, and vice versa. The middle window incorporates an image of a parchment and quill, and all three windows contain a dynamic circle that seems to move beneath the surface. Between the windows, the letters BCH can be viewed in transmission. The green-to-azure colour shift matches that of the SPARK feature.

The note was produced by Giesecke+Devrient and thread and paper by Louisenthal.

Guatemala 20 quetzales

Guatemala 20 quetzales, which is the first ever commemorative note to be issued by the Bank of Guatemala.

The note is vertically oriented on the front with themes relating to the country’s independence, and in a landscape format on the back, with a quetzal bird (after which the currency is named, and which appears on all the country’s notes).

The main overt security feature is a 5mm wide Galaxy thread with a double effect. When tilted horizontally, the thread displays an animation with a circle, embodying the number 20, moving up and down. But if the note is used in vertical format, ie. the same as the print orientation, it flips image from 20 to a quill. In both orientations it features colour shift from magenta-to-green.

This note was also produced by Giesecke+Devrient, and the thread and paper by Louisenthal.

National ID Card

The winner of the Best New National ID Card was THALES for its work on the National Record System Transformation in Honduras.

This programme was established to enhance citizens identity security with improved ID cards to prevent identity theft and also to establish a trust framework for interaction with various government services for Hondurans.

Thales was awarded the Honduras National ID card project, which was procured and financed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNPD) for the Honduras National Registration Office (RNP). The scope of the project was to provide 5.9 million national chipless polycarbonate ID’s along with the personalisation of 5.5 million IDs.

The laser engraved polycarbonate card contains three levels of security features including a DOVID hologram, changeable or multiple laser images, optically variable and UV fluorescent inks, microtext and barcode – providing a deterrence against the existing problem of fake IDs in Honduras.

Mexico Civil ID card

The winner of the Best Civil ID card was the INE (Instituto Nacional Electoral), the autonomous public organisation responsible for organising federal elections in Mexico.

One of the key responsibilities of the INE is to issue photo-voting cards to all citizens that have requested to be included in the electoral registry and is an essential document to exercise the right to vote in Mexico.

The INE card was a public open bidding tender process, won by a consortium formed by Veridos, Giesecke+Devrient, IECISA México (now INETUM) and HuBox. Veridos, G+D and IECISA México focused their efforts on the physical security elements of the document. HuBOX supplied the digital security element with their technology ‘Personal Code’ (the high density QR codes on the obverse of the card) and the verification app that functions in an offline mode and without database queries.

On the one hand, the INE credential includes top physical-security elements, and on the other an outstanding digital-security element. It was this combination of the best of the physical with the digital worlds of identity that earned the consortium the award for the photo-voting card.

New Costa Rican Banknote Series

Again, the Central Bank of Costa Rica, this time for the entire new series, featuring flora and fauna and a wealth of new features that, in the view of the judges, clearly states ‘this is us, this is our country’. Along with the 20,000 colones, the 2,000 and 5,000 notes were printed by Oberthur Fiduciaire. The 1,000 and 10,000 colones were printed by Orell Füssli.

New 20,000 Colones

The Central Bank of Costa Rica for the new 20,000 colones, a stand-out banknote in terms of design and security. It was printed by Oberthur Fiduciaire.

Mexican 20 Peso

Banco de Mexico for the Mexican 20 peso issued (as with the other award-winning banknotes) to commemorate the anniversary of independence, in this case 200 years. The note was printed by the Bank of Mexico Printing Works.

Columbia New eID Card

IDEMIA and the National Vital Statistics Registry for Colombia’s new eID card, which is loaded with innovative features, including connectivity to a mobile phone and the use of a QR code.

Argentina’s Smart DNI

HID Global and the Argentine National Registry of People for Argentina’s Smart DNI, judged as a good example of the trend in the function of ID and travel documents to link identity to a range of government services.

The New ePassport of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

The New Colombian e-Passport

The First Family of Bills of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

Bolivia saw its new Bolivianos notes scoop the Best New Series Award with the judging panel recognising the five-denomination series as a perfect blend between design and the latest state-of-the-art security features, reflecting the personality of the country through the imagery and the features.

For the first time, the new notes include emblematic figures in Bolivia’s history – indigenous heroes or martyrs who gave their lives for the country; natural sites that enhance the richness and geographical and cultural diversity of the country; and species of fauna and flora, many of them in vulnerable or in danger of extinction. The security features of the notes are designed to bolster public confidence in the national currency and consolidate the remonetisation (or bolivianization) of the economy.

The Mexican 500 Peso

The Mexican 500 Peso, which received the Best Banknote Award, is the first denomination in a new family of banknotes that have improved security features and designs representing Mexico’s historical and natural heritage.

The theme of the new series is ‘Historical identity and natural heritage’, portraying historical scenes of Mexico on the front and national natural heritage sites recognised by UNESCO on the reverse.

The new 500 pesos banknote was manufactured by the Printing Works of Banco de México on Crane Currency’s durable ENDURANCE™ paper. It contains several state-of-the-art security features, such as SPARK Live and MOTION RAPID thread, which the judges regarded as setting set the standard in terms of security and design for the rest of the notes to follow.

Uruguay 50 Pesos

Uruguay’s commitment to improving the quality of its currency was also recognised with its banknote celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of the Central Bank of Uruguay (in 1967) winning the Best Commemorative Award.

The note has been produced on Guardian polymer – a first for the country – and has a modern style with an abstract design. It includes an innovative feature in the form of a large, eye-catching half window, which enhances both the aesthetic and functionality of the note. The beautiful design showcases creativity, technical skill, excellent integration with security features and distinct representations of the Central Bank of Uruguay’s 50th anniversary.

New Cordobas Series

100,000 Pesos

New Argentine Banknote Series

National Electronic ID Card (DNIe) of Peru

New 100 Nuevos Soles

A new series of banknotes went into circulation in Peru in 2011. The second highest denomination of these is the 100 Nueovs Soles, which was issued at the end of last year.

The main feature of the note is the portrait of the Peruvian historian Jorge Basadre Grohmann. The note features a Motion optically variable therad and watermark The principle denomination numeral on the front was originally represetned with OVI, but in the new version, this has been replaced with SPARK with a rolling bar effect.

The upgrade demonstrates how the visual appeal and security of a note can be significantly enhanced without detracting from the existing features and the public’s familiarity with these.

The award was received by Alejandro Rozas Alosilla Velasco of the Reserve Central Bank of Peru.

New Chilean Drivers Licence

Chile’s new drivers licence is due to be issued next year. A national database is being created, and a new central production system is being put in place to replace the 240 or so existing enrolment and issuing centres throughout Chile to eliminate duplication and fraud, and enable licences to be checked and verified in real time.

Key objectives of the programme are to provide licences with full traceaiblity, to integrate and harmonise the systems of all the different municipalities, to ensure secure issuance and to increase durability.

The polycarbonate licence has a ten year lifetime and incorporates a number of new features. These include complex backrounds, guilloche images, microtext, UV ink and laser personalisation.

The image of the holder is partially covered with a Kinegram, over which a relief laser printed feature is applied to provide tactility. In addition to the personal data and unique ID and serial numbers on each licence, they also – unsually – include a QR code to enable quick validation in the field by, for example, traffic officers.

The award was received by Francisco Mandiola, CEO of Casa de Moneda de Chile

Alec Hutchinson

The currency industry has lost one of its most well-known, and ebullient, figures following the death of Alec Hutchinson.

He started his career with De La Rue and spent 15 years there, during which time he held a number of senior management positions in Latin America and served as the Managing Director of its security print operations. He moved on to join SICPA as Global Sales and Marketing Director, before taking up the position of Senior Vice President with Banknote Corporation of America (at the time, a subsidiary of Oberthur).

From there he joined Secure Products Inc, a supplier of taggants, as Managing Director of Currencies, helping grow the company and steer its acquisition by Honeywell in 2007. He also worked for Bundesdruckerei International Services and spent the last four years representing Louisenthal in Latin America.

Malcolm Cuthbertson

Malcolm Cuthbertson was a key figure and much loved member of the secure documents community.

Malcolm was very proud to have started his working life as a Jackaroo in Australia. Following this he returned to the UK and had an extremely distinguished career in the British Army where he rose to the rank of Major.

Malcolm first joined Bradbury Wilkinson in 1981 and then transferred to De La Rue as part of the acquisition in 1986. He started life in De La Rue as a banknote salesman but soon joined the Identity business where he later became one of the industry’s most renowned and highly respected experts on global travel documents and passports.

Malcolm’s impact and influence has been unrivalled within the industry; he acted as the ISO Principle UK Expert on Machine Readable Travel Documents and sat on one of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) working groups. He also participated in various travel document workshops with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Organisation for American States (OAS).

Malcolm became one of the most knowledgeable people in the passport world and was for so many people the ‘go to’ person when they were wrestling with a difficult issue.

In 2003 Malcolm was invited to join the Advisory Board of the Keesings Journal and in 2012 he joined the Intergraf Committee of Experts of the International Security Printers Conference.

One thing that he felt very passionate about was the need to bring like minded people together and it was with this in mind that he embraced the concept of the document producers working closely with the fraud labs. This is now the accepted practice in so many countries.

100 Pesos Eva Perón note